The Shades 2
by Purest Shadows
Summary: Life is complicated when there are three sides to the coin, and you belong to each one. Slight YuanOC, and other Cannonness.
1. The Flashing Light

Purest Shadows: Hello again! I'm glad that I finished the first story, and now I'm starting the sequel!

Disclaimer: If the first story included eleven disclaimers, then obviously I don't own the plot line of ToS. Deal with it.

Ch 1: The Flashing Light

_It was the Day of Prophecy, and Lloyd, Genis, Colette, and Neviros were in school when the light flashed throughout the world. _

"W-w-what was that!" Lloyd exclaimed. Everyone froze in their places.

"That was the Oracle...I will go check the temple. You will all stay here and study." Raine instructed and Colette stood up.

"Should I go with you?" she asked.

"No, Chosen. If you are needed, the priests will come and get you." Raine shook her head and she ran out the door.

"I've gotta tell Mama!" Neviros shouted, and ran towards the door.

"Yeah! I want to go too!" Lloyd grinned and he went after Neviros.

"C'mon!" Neviros giggled, as if she couldn't understand how serious the situation was.

"No! Neviros, Lloyd!" Genis exclaimed and Lloyd looked at Genis and grinned.

"Ah, c'mon, it's research!" Lloyd protested. Oddly enough, it was Neviros who glared at Lloyd and shouted,

"Don't use that as an excuse!" she then smiled innocently at Genis. "Mama forgot to pack my lunch. She was too busy looking at a picture of Papa...I'm so hungry! Can we go?" she pleaded and Genis groaned.

"Why do I put up with you two?" he asked.

"Because we're your friends." Lloyd grinned and as they were about to leave, Colette stood up and asked,

"Can I come along?"

"Of course!" Lloyd agreed happily, and the four left the school, heading for the temple.

"I thought you were going to see Hana..." Colette said and Neviros giggled.

"We are! After we see the temple!" she grinned and the four entered the temple grounds. There, they saw Desians by the entrance. Around them, all the priests and pastors were lying, dead.

"Desians!" Lloyd hissed, "They weren't supposed to bread the non-aggression treaty!" The Desians laughed.

"This kid thinks we're Desians...Then let's have them fall at the hands of their so-called 'Desians'." The head 'Desian' ordered and the foot soldiers ran towards the group.

"Stop!" a gargantuan man shouted behind them. The men looked at the large mace-wielding 'Desian' and gave a questioning look. "That little girl...she's the boss' kid!" he whispered warningly and the men looked at Neviros.

"Change in plans. Get all of them, except the little girl!" Neviros was confused, but she ran to the side, unable to fight. (She left her slingshot at home.)

"Get them!" Lloyd shouted and he, Genis, and Colette wasted the men. The gargantuan man stomped towards them and he lassoed his mace in the air menacingly.

"Ahh!" Genis shouted in pain as the mace made contact with his small body. "This guy's...tough..." he wheezed and a red-headed swordsman came raining down on the man and made a slash at his chest.

"Get back!" the swordsman ordered, and the fight continued. After defeating the man, the swordsman heard Colette praise,

"Lloyd, you were great!" Neviros snickered and replied,

"Don't feed his already big ego."

"Your name is Lloyd?" the swordsman asked and Lloyd gave the man a cold stare.

"Yeah, but who are you to ask for _my_ name?" he asked. The swordsman smirked, remembering how a young Hana Irving had mouthed off to Yuan exactly twenty years ago in the exact same way.

"Thank you, kind sir...but just who are you?" Phaidra asked and the man turned to her.

"I am Kratos, a mercenary. If you can pay me, I will take upon the task of protecting the Chosen." Kratos introduced.

"Well...It appears that I have no choice." Phaidra sighed and she agreed. Neviros began to giggle loudly. Kratos eyed the child oddly and asked,

"What do you find so amusing?"

"Mama always said that 'Kratos' was such an ancient sounding name. Are you old, like Mama is?" Kratos, again, thought of Hana. This young girl was remarkably akin to her.

"Me, old? Why, I assume that your mother is older than I am." Kratos shook his head, then added, "Go home. And so should you two boys."

"What!" Neviros exclaimed.

"You will only get in the way...and you are so young...your mother will be worried sick about you." Kratos replied.

"Hana is confident in our abilities...and besides, we'd follow you anyway." Lloyd retorted coolly. Kratos smirked.

"Fine. Be it on your head if you become injured beyond healing." he shrugged nonchalantly, and everyone went inside the temple.

After obtaining the Sorcerer's Ring, the group walked to the blocked door and opened it.

"That's it? This thing is pretty boring..." Lloyd muttered and Neviros snatched the object out of his hands.

"I'll use it then!" she exclaimed and shot a burst of fire at Lloyd. Kratos eyed the small girl, wondering if she was even related to Hana at all. Her mother's name _was_ Hana after all... Shrugging the notion off, the group warped to the seal.

Colette walked up to the seal, where an angel called Remiel descended into the temple.

"Colette, you must release all of the seals across Sylvarant, and then come to the Tower of Salvation. I will be waiting for you there, and at the other seals." Remiel informed, and the Cruxis Crystal on the seal floated up in the air and attached itself onto Colette's necklace.

Remiel was about to leave, when Colette asked,

"Wait! Are...are you my father?" Remiel paused, as if he wasn't sure whether to confirm her answer.

"I will meet you at the next seal, Colette, my precious daughter." Colette gasped and began to stammer incoherently.

"Yes F-F-Father! I will do my best to please you!" Colette exclaimed, though there was an unclear note of uncertainty in her voice. Remiel didn't reciprocate to Colette's words, and only flashed away.

"What's his problem? Acting as if he's better than all of us..." Lloyd grumbled and Genis raised his eyebrows.

"Lloyd...he probably knows better than us..." he stated and Neviros grinned.

"That's the first time I've ever heard you admit that someone other than Miss Raine ws smarter than you." she laughed and Genis flushed a rose pink.

_As the friends plus Kratos walked back to Iselia, Genis already had plans concerning a friend in a dangerous place._

Purest Shadows: Well...I wrote that chapter...finally...But I always have a problem with the first chapter! I hope you like this new story!


	2. Marbleized

Purest Shadows: Hello again! Don't have much to say...so i guess that I'll just get to writing...err...typing! And because this one goes along with the ToS plot line, I'm going to have it go the way I played the game. Which was skipping Izoold until I beat the Tower of Mana, Balacruf Mausoleum, Asgard Human Ranch, _then_ all that Izoold stuff. (I know, I'm stupid...I didn't see Izoold, and went straight to Luin. o )

Disclaimer: I do not own ToS...I wish I owned ToS...then Ronoia would actually be in the game...that would be pretty cool...

(As a note, I just found out where I heard the name Neviros. Check out the monster list...I think it's number 70. I knew it sounded familiar! Oh well...I'll try to incorporate something about that in the story...later on...)

Ch 2: Marbleized

"Lloyd, Neviros, can we go to my place for a while? I've got to pack some things." Genis informed. Neviros and Lloyd looked at each other, confused, but nodded.

"Sure." Lloyd grinned and Genis smiled thankfully. The trio ran to the elf's home, and once inside, Genis gathered some food for a sandwich.

"Food?" Neviros asked. Genis nodded.

"My friend doesn't have anything to eat, and I can't let her starve!" he exclaimed.

"You're so nice." Lloyd laughed and Genis blushed.

"...Let's get going..."

The trio walked through the Iselia Forest, and made their way to the human ranch.

"Your friend...is human?" Neviros asked uncertainly. Lloyd had just as confused as an expression.

"I thought you were giving your food to a dog." he said and Genis stared at them, wide eyed.

"She's human!" he shouted at the two, who looked away and Neviros began to attempt to whistle. She failed horribly.

"Pbbbthhh..." came the odd noises from her lips. Lloyd and Genis laughed at the sound, but shook their heads and walked to the side, where they were met by an elderly woman.

"Genis..." the woman smiled.

"This is Marble, and these two are Lloyd, and Neviros." Genis introduced and Lloyd and Neviros grinned. Lloyd's eyes trailed down to Marble's hand, and he gasped.

"You have an Exsphere without a Key Crest!" Lloyd exclaimed. Neviros shrugged.

"Mama doesn't have a Key Crest on her Exsphere." she replied. Lloyd stared at Neviros, about to retort about Hana's special 'condition', but he didn't even know what it was. Marble stared at Neviros as well, her eyes displaying concern for the Shade-in-hiding.

"Why doesn't she have a Key Crest?" Marble asked. Neviros shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know. Dirk made a Key Crest for her once, but Mama refused to let him remove her Exsphere. She looked kinda scared to take it off." she informed. Lloyd nodded, remembering that day.

Hana had angrily refused the Key Crest, saying that Lloyd could use it instead, for _his_ Exsphere. But when Dirk's hand neared Hana's forehead, her eyes went wide with fear, and she screamed, as if terrified of removing the 'harmful' object. In the end, Dirk and Lloyd gave up on trying to put the Key Crest on Hana, and had Lloyd use it for his Exsphere instead.

"But what about you?" he asked Marble.

"Oh...the Desians here slapped this on me after I was brought here." Marble explained.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Genis asked Lloyd, who nodded.

"Attaching an Exsphere onto the skin is supposed to make you sick, but ironically, the only way for it to even work, is to attach it directly to the skin! So they have Key Crests to make sure that you don't get sick." he informed.

"Couldn't you make one for Marble!" Genis pleaded. Lloyd shook his head.

"Even if I had the materials needed, making Key Crests is Dwarven technology."

"But Dirk is a dwarf!" Neviros exclaimed and Lloyd looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Okay...I'll ask him about it." he agreed and Genis grinned at him. "Hey, Dwarven vow number two: Always help someone in need."

"Thank you!" Genis exclaimed and Neviros nodded.

"Hey! Who's back there!" A voice shouted and Genis, Lloyd, and Neviros froze.

"Oh no...it's the Desians! Quick, run!" Marble pleaded. Genis looked scared for Marble, but being the obedient person he was, ran to where he couldn't be seen. Lloyd looked extremely apologetic, but he ran off as well, grabbing Neviros by the wrist and running off.

"I'm sorry!" Lloyd called out, and he ran to where Genis was.

"Let's find higher ground..." Neviros informed quietly. Lloyd and Genis stared at her. Neviros was never quiet, not even in games of hide-and-seek.

"Is something wrong?" Lloyd asked. Neviros looked away and said,

"Why doesn't Mama want a Key Crest on her Exsphere? Isn't she sick because of it?" Lloyd ruffled Neviros' blue hair comfortingly, and smiled.

"I don't know why, but Hana seems to be okay. Though...I don't know why she doesn't want an Exsphere." he replied and the group scaled the small cliff. They saw Marble getting whipped by Desians, and Genis threw fireballs at them.

"Okay, you two. Run!" Lloyd ordered the two, and Genis and Neviros ran down the cliff, while Lloyd ran into the Desians' view.

"That's him! Get him!" one Desian shouted, and they attacked Lloyd. Lloyd killed the upcoming three Desians, but as Genis and Neviros were sneaking away, Genis tripped, and said,

"Owww..." Neviros covered Genis' mouth too late.

"What was that!" another Desian asked and Lloyd and Genis ended up killing those Desians as well.

"Let's run before more come!" Lloyd shouted, and the group ran off.

They met in the Iselia Forest, where Genis gave Lloyd the most apologetic look he could muster.

"I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me, we could have made it without you being seen!" Lloyd shook his head.

"We took care of all the Desians who saw my face. It's okay. So I guess that this is where we part ways. We'll see you later, Genis." Lloyd bade the young half-elf farewell and he and Neviros ran off, heading home. Genis ran back to Iselia.

Lloyd and Neviros ran home, not wanting to meet any more opponents along the way. As they reached the makeshift bridge along the stream, they say Hana, sitting by Anna's grave.

"Don't worry Anna...I'll protect him...I promised." she smiled, looking at the engraving on Anna's grave marker.

"Mama!" Neviros exclaimed happily and Hana turned around to see Neviros running towards her. Hana picked the little girl up and Neviros paused. She eyed Hana's Exsphere and asked, "Why don't you want to take your Exsphere off?" Hana froze for a moment.

"Well...someone gave me this Exsphere without a Key Crest...they didn't know you'd need one...but when I got it, it stopped something horrible from happening to me...if I take it off, that horrible thing may come back." she explained, remembering the painful memory of almost become a demon.

"Oh...but won't you get sick?" Neviros asked.

"No...I'm as healthy as a horse! Of course I won't!" Hana laughed and she tickled Neviros, causing the girl to forget about their conversation.

"Dad, I need a Key Crest as soon as possible...can you make one for me?" Lloyd asked Dirk, and he eyed Lloyd oddly.

"Why do you need a Key Crest?" he asked. Lloyd paused, trying to think of a credible lie.

"Well, I met a mercenary in the village. He picked up an Exsphere from a Desian, and he needs one." he said.

"Dwarven vow number eleven: Lying is the first step on the path to thievery! If he got one from a Desian, it would already have a Key Crest. Now tell me Lloyd, why do you need a Key Crest?" Dirk asked. Lloyd sighed.

"Neviros and I met someone at the Ranch today..." he admitted.

"You went to the Ranch! And you even took Neviros with you!" Dirk shouted angrily. Hana rushed inside at Dirk's shouts.

"Neviros...is this why you were asking me about my Exsphere?" she asked her daughter quietly. Neviros flinched at the clear-cut disappointment in her voice. The small girl nodded, tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

"I'm sorry Mama!" Neviros apologized, hugging Hana tightly. Hana only held onto Neviros tighter, afraid of what would happen if someone recognized her.

"Did anyone see your Exsphere?" Dirk asked quietly. Lloyd shook his head.

"No...I killed those guys...But why is it so important that I keep this thing hidden? The mercenary wears his out in the open, and so does Hana!" he exclaimed.

"If you haven't noticed, I wouldn't be able to hide this Exsphere unless I wanted to blindfold myself." Hana retorted disappointedly. "Besides...my Exsphere, and the one on the mercenary aren't special at all. Yours is." Hana looked away, feeling badly about her lie.

"What's so special about my Exsphere?" Lloyd asked.

"That was your mother's keepsake. The Desians killed her in order to take it." Dirk explained, looking at Hana apologetically. He knew this was still a tender subject to her.

"They killed my mom!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"This is why we didn't tell you! You'd just go ahead and kill all the Desians you'd meet! It's not safe to go up against all those Desians alone, Exsphere or not!" Hana shouted at Lloyd, tears now flowing down her cheeks unashamedly.

"I won't go after the Desians...but can you make that Key Crest anyway, Dad?" Lloyd asked hopefully.

"Have you even been listening!" Dirk shouted, and he went over and smacked Lloyd in the face.

"Ugh! You don;t have to hit me!" Lloyd shouted, and he ran outside. Hana followed him, Neviros in her arms. When they got outside, two out of the three froze, though each for different reasons.

"You heard the whole thing didn't you?" Lloyd asked. Hana opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water.

"Uh...Ah...Er..." she tried to say something, but nothing would come out of her mouth. Finally, she set Neviros down, and said, "Go and play with Genis..." Neviros ran up to Genis, who allowed the younger girl to tug on his hair gently.

"It has been a while." Kratos greeted. The Shade recovered from her shock and glared at Kratos.

"It has been, hasn't it?" she asked, her voice full of icy venom.

"How old is your daughter? I am sure she has never met her father. " Kratos asked, as if he hadn't noticed Hana's tone of voice.

"She's nine, and no, Neviros has never met her father...And don't you make small talk with me. If you're here to kill me, then do so already...but I don't think you'd be able to anymore." Hana hissed Everyone turned stare at Hana and Kratos, Hana's comment bringing up confusion.

"You two know each other?" Raine asked.

"Yes...if you want to put it that way...But I'd rather call him a colleague." Hana replied and Kratos laughed.

"Colleague, eh? You make it sound as if you loathe me." he retorted.

"Well I should! After you stayed behind because...never mind. I have no more business with you." Hana shook her head. She then walked away, taking Neviros with her.

"What's her deal?" Genis asked, only to get smacked by Raine.

"I assume unhealed wounds." Kratos replied.

"Unhealed?" Colette asked.

"You can always expect time to leave some deep wounds. From what I remember of Hana's past, she still has many." Kratos explained.

"She never told us about anything that hurt her." Lloyd stated.

"Why would anyone want to reveal a weak spot in a defense so battered?" Raine asked quietly. Apparently, she had unhealed wounds as well. Not wanting to press the subject further, Colette pulled Lloyd away to talk, and Kratos walked over to Anna's grave.

"Anna...you were here all along...so Lloyd is..." he murmured, tracing over Anna's name in the grave marker.

"Unhealed wounds indeed." Hana muttered, seeing Kratos from her bedroom window.

"Mama...do you know him?" Neviros asked curiously.

"Yes...he was once a good friend...once..." Hana shook her head, trying to clear it of thoughts.

_'For the fucking sake of Shadows and Skies! I left Cruxis because I had to...for one...but also so I could leave behind that wretched chapter of my life!'_ Hana thought angrily _'...And now it's here to bite me in the fucking ass!'_

"Mama...you're making a hole in the bedsheets..." Neviros snapped Hana out of her thoughts. Hana looked at her hands. They were making a hole in the sheets, just as Neviros ad said.

"Oh..." Hana uttered and she lied down. "Tomorrow, we're going to accompany the Chosen on her journey. You know, I can't leave you behind...and I don't trust Kratos at all." she informed Neviros.

"Do I take my slingshot?" Neviros asked. Hana nodded.

"You're going to have to if I'm bringing you along...this is going to be a very dangerous journey..." Hana turned away from Neviros and the Half-elven (A/N: Well...one fourth elven...but still...she's elven and human...it's all the same...just diluted...) girl crawled into bed next to her mother.

_'If this journey is going to go the way I think it will, then saying this will be very dangerous is an understatement...I think I'll leave Neviros with Yuan...but I've got to think of a way to make it seem as if I'm not doing it on purpose...'_ Hana thought, then added mentally, _'Lloyd, be careful...Kratos knows...'_ and she drifted off to sleep.

_As Lloyd, Hana, and Neviros awoke the next day, ready to go, they were met by Genis, who gave some harrowing news. Why had Colette abandoned them when she said they could go? _

Purest Shadows: Okay! I got this chapter up...finally...but I have an idea for a different kind of Exsphere that I'm going to put in here...in later chapters...you know... It's called the Animus Cruxis Crystal...but you'll find out what it does later!


	3. The Animus Project

Purest Shadows: Today, I am going to take a short stop to explain the Animus Cruxis Crystal. This chapter will take place in all of Derris Karhlan, with Yggdrasil testing it on all sorts of test subjects. But enough if this! You'll learn all about it in this chapter!

Disclaimer: Okay...takes in deep, shaky breath I don't like putting this up...it takes more time out of typing up the story...besides, if I owned ToS, I wouldn't be writing fanfics about it. This would actually be in the game.

Ch 3: The Animus Project

_Meanwhile, Yggdrasil had a new project, the Animus Cruxis Crystal. So far, every test subject had died after a few weeks, only the ones with Elven of Shade blood lived longer. But who had the blood of both Shades, and Elves? Shades were always of human descent..._ (A/N: Makes it obvious who gets this Exsphere, huh?)

Yggdrasil stared at the test subjects, each one wearing a green crystal on their foreheads. It would be required for this certain Cruxis Crystal.

As soon as Yggdrasil had turned away, Yuan teleported into the room.

"Lord Yggdrasil, how does the protocol go?" he asked. To be honest, as much as Yuan despised how these Cruxis Crystals were made, this was a project that was extremely interesting.

"The test subjects are dying quickly. The Elves live longer because of their mental ability to control their forms, but they can't prevent the sickness, even with the Key Crests given to them. The new Shades we captured live longer because of their protection...but they have all turned on themselves and killed each other, unable to control themselves." Yggdrasil informed.

"Their forms?" Yuan asked. This was something new that he hadn't heard of.

"You know that we make Animus Crystals from the souls of animals, instead of humans. So when we placed the Exsphere on our test subjects, they turned into the animal that the Exsphere was originally placed on! So we placed on Exsphere on animal after animal. When we put an Exsphere that had the souls of many different types of animals, the subjects were able to become all those different animals." Yggdrasil informed.

"Oh...how many animals have you tried it on?" Yuan asked.

"We have tried it on most of the animals we could find. However, we have one Animus Crystal that we are placing on every animal in the world. The problem is, the more souls in an Exsphere, the stronger the pull of sucking in the user's soul. So the Key Crests on these have to be used with Aionis." Yggdrasil continued.

"Aionis? The stone used to give people elven qualities?"

"Exactly. The elven qualities gave the subjects stronger mental control, though it wasn't as strong as the actual elves."

Yuan stared at the test subjects, seeing one turn into a mouse, and try to sneak away. A Desian guarding them walked up to the mouse and stepped on it, a sickening crack and a pitiful squeak echoing through the room. Yuan winced, suddenly feeling sick.

The green Animus Crystal that was on the subject bounced away, and the Desian who had killed the subject picked it up.

"So...if you wanted a subject to live, what exact qualities would they need?" Yuan asked, his stomach churning uncomfortably. Yggdrasil was thoughtful for a moment before replying,

"Someone with the blood of Elves, and Shades. Even Shade descent may work, because my theory is that the Elven blood in them will awaken the dormant Shade blood, thus awakening the dormant protection."

Yuan felt his insides go cold.

_'Neviros...'_ he thought fearfully. Yggdrasil didn't know about the girl, but if she were to be found out, she might be put under the cruel Animus Project, like the others that were here now.

"Yuan...what is with that look on your face?" Yggdrasil asked. Yuan stared at Yggdrasil with a hollow look. Yggdrasil couldn't know about Neviros...and he would never know about her either!

"I...I am not feeling well." Yuan stammered, faking a headache, though the ache in his heart could have easily made up for it. If Yggdrasil found out about Neviros, not only would she be put under this project, Hana would never forgive him. Of course, Yuan might not even be around to not be forgiven at all! And neither would Hana.

"If you are not feeling well, then why did you come here? You should go back to your room." Yggdrasil replied. Yuan shook his head and said,

"I was feeling fine when I got here. I think it was the sight of that mouse being squashed." Yuan lied.

"You feel bad for a lowly half-life? Oh...I forgot...you had feelings for that demon. Get over her. She's burning in hell now." Yggdrasil glared at Yuan. He had found out that he and Hana were together while the two were still in Cruxis. And Yggdrasil still was angry that Yuan even had a relationship with her.

Yuan clenched his fists tightly, feeling rage well up inside of him.

_'Calm down. Lord Yggdrasil still thinks that I am on his side...and that I do not love Hana anymore.'_ he thought, trying to rest his uneasiness.

"I may not have feelings for her anymore...but I still do not think it was right of Kvar to call her soft. She did what she had to do, even at the cost of her life. Kvar needs to learn to hold his tongue and respect his betters." Yuan replied coldly, taking Yggdrasil aback.

"She was preventing her sister from receiving the proper punishment she deserved!" Yggdrasil exploded.

"Like what the humans believed you deserved! Martel died for the exact same reason Hana did!" Yuan snapped. Yggdrasil paused.

"Don't you ever compare my sister with that lowly half-life. Martel was nothing like that Shade! The only thing they had in common was that they had a relationship with you" Yggdrasil hissed and Yuan glared at him. "if only Martel had never fallen for you. Then I could kill you without hesitation." Yuan decided to change the subject before Yggdrasil would get angry enough to ignore Martel's word.

"Do you know anyone with the blood of Shades and Elves?" he asked.

"No...Shades who leave Ronoia never have children with Elves, and Elves who leave Heimdall never have children with Shades. It's either a human, or someone of the same race. Now I think I am regretting that that Shade had died. If she were alive, it may have been possible for her to have children with one of the Half-elves, or Elves here." Yggdrasil glared. Yuan felt cold again, remembering Neviros.

Suddenly, Yggdrasil turned to Yuan, and asked,

"Do you know someone with that kind of blood?" Yuan froze. He didn't want to lie, for if he did and Yggdrasil found out, that would be the end of him.

But of course, any good parent puts the lives of their child before their own.

"No...I don't know anyone with that kind of blood..." Yuan lied. Yggdrasil eyed Yuan oddly, as if he could tell that there was some hidden information in Yuan's head that he wasn't revealing.

"Don't lie to your betters." Yggdrasil glared at Yuan and he grabbed Yuan by the shoulders, beginning to probe his mind for hidden information. Yuan began to block out what he didn't want Yggdrasil to see, the Renegades, anything within the Sylvarant or Tethe'alla bases, and Neviros. Unfortunately, Yggdrasil got to Neviros before yuan could block that information.

"She's alive...and you even had a child with her! Then you even married her?" Yggdrasil exploded. Yuan cursed Yggdrasil's overpowering mental speed.

"I don't understand why you care...now you have the test subject you need." Yuan glared at Yggdrasil and the blond angel let go of Yuan.

"I suppose that good came out of this. But if I ever hear you speak of that traitorous Shade once more, I _will_ kill you, regardless." he warned the blue-haired half-elf and he walked away.

"He's going to find her...I've got to tell Hana!" Yuan exclaimed and he teleported away from Derris Karhlan.

In Iselia

"Why did Colette leave!" Lloyd exploded once he, Genis, Hana and Neviros made it to Colette's house.

"Colette left you this letter...this should explain everything." Frank replied, and Lloyd read the letter quietly, mouthing the words as he read along.

"This...sounds like a will..." Lloyd concluded and Frank nodded.

"You could put it that wa-" Frank was cut off as a loud crash was heard. Instinctively, Lloyd ran out, followed by the others.

"What was that!" Neviros asked, as the four ran towards the exit to Iselia. They were met by Desians, and one of them said,

"Lloyd Irving, you are under arrest by the order of Lord Forcystus, one of the five Grand Cardinals. You have broken the non-aggression treaty."

"What? You are the ones who broke the treaty first! You attacked the pastors in the Temple of Martel!" Lloyd shouted at the Desians, and they laughed.

"We never attacked the temple. But we have decided a proper opponent for your battle." another Desian informed, and a strange monster stomped it's way into Iselia.

Hana froze.

_'Anna...'_ she thought and dropped to her knees.

"I...I...I can't fight...not this..." she whispered, and Lloyd and Genis stared at her.

"Why?" Lloyd asked.

_'It's not the time for them to know about souls within Exspheres...'_

"I'm not feeling too well... I overexerted myself last night." Hana lied, and as the monster approached, Lloyd, Genis, and Neviros began to attack it.

As soon as they had defeated it, Forcystus had entered Iselia, and the monster wrapped it's arms around him.

_'Run...Lloyd...Neviros...and Genis...'_ it urged in a voice akin to Marble's.

"That sounded like Marble..." Genis faltered.

_'You were like a grandson to me...Genis...'_ Marble's voice rang again, and she 'exploded', leaving only an Exsphere at Genis' feet.

"MARBLE!" Genis shouted in anguish

"Lord Forcystus!" a Desian exclaimed, and ran towards Forcystus. Forcystus stood up, and he stared at the group curiously. He noted that Hana was there, then he stared at Neviros.

_'That's the girl Lord Yggdrasil wanted for the Animus Project...'_ he thought and he rushed over to Neviros, picked her up, and teleported away, before Hana could run over to him and give him a scar alike to Kvar's.

"Neviros!" Hana screamed, and she fell over once more, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Lord Forcystus shouldn't be teleporting like that! Not with his injury!" a Desian shouted, and they ran away.

"Lloyd, you didn't really go to the human ranch, did you?" the mayor asked Lloyd. Lloyd looked down.

"I'm sorry..." he apologized and the mayor exploded,

"How may times have we told you not to go to the ranch! Now our whole village has been ruined!"

"But what about those people? We couldn't just leave them there!" Lloyd shouted back.

"The people at the ranch are going to rot there anyway." a woman retorted and Genis glared at them all.

"You humans are all the same..." he muttered.

"And now you two can't stay here..." the mayor informed and Hana shot her head up.

"Don't you dare exile them! It's my fault! I'm the adult...and I could have stopped this at once..." she informed. If she hadn't betrayed Anna, none of this would have ever happened...

"Fine then, by the power as mayor of Iselia, I hereby banish you three from this village!" the mayor shouted, and Hana stood up, shakily.

"How can you banish Hana! She just had her _daughter_ taken away!" Genis shouted at the mayor.

"Her daughter was just a worthless Half-elf anyway..." the mayor retorted. Hana looked at the mayor with furious eyes.

"Worthless! You see _my_ child- my flesh and blood-kidnapped by the Desians, and all you can say was that she was _worthless_! You're worthless!" she raged at the mayor and her hand went to her key Crest-less Exsphere. "If I could take this off, I would, just to make sure you got your punishment for your heartlessness..."

As a final standing, Hana slapped the mayor so hard he fell to the ground, and she, Lloyd and Genis walked away.

Once outside of the village grounds, Hana collapsed onto the ground and began to cry.

"Neviros...I'm so sorry..." Hana sobbed. Lloyd sat down next to her and he gave Hana a comforting look.

"We'll get Neviros back, I promise." Lloyd vowed and Hana only looked at him with saddened eyes.

"And if we don't?" Hana asked.

"We will..." Lloyd assured. Hana nodded, and shakily stood up, wondering how Neviros was faring right now.

In Derris Karhlan

"Lord Yggdrasil! We found the girl! She is being brought here right away!" a Desian man exclaimed, running towards Yggdrasil and Yuan. Yuan felt the blood drain from his face.

"Oh no..." he whispered and Yggdrasil glared at him. Another Desian came into view, a young girl slung over his shoulder. She was small for her age, with blue hair and half-open purple eyes. Yuan's eyes widened as the Desian cruelly dropped the small girl onto the ground.

Instinctively, Yuan ran to her, cradling her head in his lap.

"Neviros...you'll be fine...Papa's got you here..." Yuan whispered to the barely conscious girl. Neviros stared at Yuan and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"You're...you're... you're Papa?" Neviros asked in an amazed daze and Yuan nodded.

"Yes...I've got you..." he replied, stroking the back of her head lovingly. Neviros smiled, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

"Good...the sedative we gave her is working." the Desian that brought Neviros in informed and he exited the room, ready to call in other Desians, just in case Neviros got out of control.

"How touching...and disgusting...she only has a fourth of her elven blood...and the rest is all human and shade...how pathetic..." Yggdrasil sneered at Neviros, but he pulled out a green Exsphere with an Aionis Key Crest. Yuan felt his arms wrap around Neviros protectively, not wanting her to become the test subject of a horrible protocol.

"Neviros...forgive me." Yuan pleaded to the sleeping girl. Neviros only made a slight twitch, shifting in her sleep to turn away from Yggdrasil.

Yggdrasil only glared at the impudent child and moved her body so he could put the Exsphere on her forehead. It would be easy to remove if the test subject got out of hand.

Upon inserting the Exsphere, Neviros awoke with a start, feeling her body burning on the inside.

"AIEEE!" she screamed in pain. Her body began to thrash and writhe before crumpling into a heap. Yuan held onto Neviros tightly, soothing her pain as much as he could.

Neviros had never been this scared in her whole life! Her body felt like it was melting and burning, and as sooner it was gone, the better. But Neviros' attention was soon diverted. Her hands began to grow into claws, and her head changed shape painfully. Instead of a scream, Neviros let out a monstrous roar. Black wings sprouted out of her back and her body arched into a most peculiar shape.

"A...A...you put this Exsphere on a manticore!" Yuan roared angrily, still holding the small winged lion in his arms.

_'A manticore? But...those are only legendary monsters, right?'_ Neviros thought, remembering all the storied Hana had told her, about four brave warriors, and how they saved the world. But when the sister of the leader died, he split the world in two, causing the world regenerations to begin. Hana even gave them names.

_'Yuan, Kratos, Mithos, and Martel...'_

She would then go on to tell about how Kratos descended back onto Sylvarant thousands of years later, and he fell in love with a beautiful maiden, named Anna.

_'Like Lloyd's mama's name?_' Neviros had once asked innocently. Hana only nodded and continued her story. She told about Anna's older sister, Hana, and how she had to defend her family from monsters as they left the land of the Shades, Ronoia before Anna was born.

_'You have the same name as the heroine...'_ Neviros giggled.

_'Hana wasn't the heroine. She just made a promise to protect her sister.' _Hana replied, and even though Neviros couldn't tell, a sad look crossed over her usually bright features. Hana's story always ended with the marriage of Hana and Yuan, apparently, her favorite part. She once went past that point and told Neviros about her namesake, the 'deceased' Summon Spirit of the Sky, and how Hana and Yuan named their daughter Neviros, after the Summon Spirit that saved them as well.

_'Are you the same Hana from the story?' _Neviros asked afterwards.

_'Oh no...I could never do something as amazing as that...'_ Hana smiled and she kissed Neviros on the forehead before lying down and going to sleep.

_'Mama's story must be true if this...Papa...said I was a manticore...but why?'_ Neviros thought and she rolled out of Yuan's arms and looked around curiously.

Trotting over to Yggdrasil, she gave a snort.

Yggdrasil smelt like...like death... Moving form one person to the next, Neviros finally went back to Yuan.

_'He smells like Mama...'_ she thought and sat in his lap, nuzzling him contentedly. Yuan smiled at Neviros, as her body changed back into her original form.

"You smell like Mama..." Neviros smiled before falling asleep again.

Yggdrasil could only sneer at the sight again, some abandoned part of him wishing that he could go back to a time like that, when Martel would just cradle his head in his lap, saying that everything would be all right. But it would be like that again when Martel would be revived. Once again, Martel would be back...and once again, Yggdrasil would be back in the comforting arms of his sister.

"Lord Yggdrasil, may I take Neviros to her cell?" Yuan asked, wincing at how he'd have to keep Neviros in a cell.

_'So this is how Hana felt when Anna was in here...'_ Yuan thought abysmally. He hated the thought of having to cage up his own daughter.

Yggdrasil nodded, still glaring at the well-loved child.

"Get her out of my sight...the Aionis must already be causing her elven blood to awaken her shade blood...her shade side is becoming more apparent..." he gritted his teeth and Yuan looked at Neviros.

It was true, her shade side was beginning to show itself. Neviros was beginning to sub-phase, something Hana used to do in her sleep, and her skin was becoming cold, but it wasn't the crisp gale of autumn, like Hana's pure-shade skin. It was a cool breeze of spring.

Though Yuan had to admit it, he preferred the autumn, as opposed to spring, it reminded him of the woman whom he missed so dearly.

With a heavy heart, Yuan picked up Neviros, who was slowly awakening, a sure sign that the shade in her had awoken.

"Mister...are you really my Papa?" Neviros asked. Yuan stared at Neviros' purple eyes, the size and shape exactly the same as Hana's.

"Your mother...well...mama...her name _is_ Hana Lumbari, isn't it?" Yuan asked. Neviros nodded.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name's Yuan."

"Mama always said that Yuan was a nice name."

"What else did your mama say?"

"That she loved me and my papa more than anyone else in the world,...are you my papa?" Yuan paused, slow smile gracing his thin lips.

"Yes...I'm your papa...and _I_ want you to know, I love you and your mama more than anyone else in the world." he smiled and brought Neviros into her cell.

"I have to stay here?" she asked, feeling scared. Yuan gave Neviros a comforting look.

"Don't worry. I'll sneak you into my room, and I'll tell you a bedtime story." Yuan smiled, placing a hand on her head.

"Can you tell me the story Mama does? But can you tell me what Mama won't?" Neviros asked. Yuan gave Neviros a puzzled look.

"What story?" he asked.

"Mama would always tell me the story about two worlds, and how they used to be one. About the four heroes, and what happened to each of them...and if your name is Yuan...are you and Mama the same people from her story, and I was really named after a Summon Spirit that sacrificed herself to save you and Mama?" Neviros asked.

Yuan chuckled.

_'It seems that you don't want Neviros knowing nothing about the world, do you Hana?' _he thought amusedly. _'Well, I don't either.'_

Yuan nodded, and he left the cell, kissing Neviros on the forehead.

"I'll come get you later

___Yuan obtained Neviros an _hour later, and he took her to his room, the one that he had gotten back after Hana's departure, and he told her the whole story-including the parts Hana chose not to tell. Just in case there wouldn't be a chance to tell her later.

Purest Shadows: Well! This was a long chapter! Seven pages...well...I guess that that's okay...I just hope that it didn't get boring. You know, I've read those ridiculously long chapters, and I got so bored around halfway.

Lots of love! 3


	4. The Sylvarant Base

Purest Shadows: Hey...I guess that I should get back to writing out this story. (Oh yeah, did you check out number seventy in the monster list? Haha...) .

To Noir Domi: Haha...bread the non-aggression treaty...Thanks, I needed a laugh!

To Mez10000: I'm so glad you didn't get bored with that long chapter!

Disclaimer: I'm tired of having to do these...but I don't own ToS...so I have to...

Chapter 4: The Sylvarant Base

_As Yuan told Neviros about the whole story, Hana, Lloyd and Genis were on their way to Triet. They were going to rest for the night,and ask the fortune teller where Colette, Raine, and Kratos had gone._

"Lloyd...Colette was going to the Seal of Fire, so we should get to Triet." Genis stated and Lloyd nodded. He walked over to a sullen Hana, and asked,

"Are you okay?" Hana looked at him with a sad smile and replied,

"I will be, once we get Neviros back." Hana shakily stood up and she looked at the area.

"Do you know your way around here?" Lloyd asked. Hana nodded.

"Didn't I tell you that I used to be a corpse raider when I worked with Kratos? I should know my way around Sylvarant pretty well." she informed and began to walk towards the desert.

Eventually, the group made its way to Triet, and they went up to the fortune teller.

"Hello. For a hundred gald, I can tell you where the Chosen and her group went." the fortune teller gave a fake smile and Lloyd groaned. Hana rolled her eyes and pulled out a small satchel of gold coins. Pulling out a hundred gald, she said in a cold voice she hadn't used since her days in Cruxis,

"There. Now tell us." the fortune teller eyed Hana oddly and said,

"Fine. The Chosen headed for the Triet Ruins."

"How did you know?" Genis asked.

"Because the Chosen herself told me." the fortune teller grinned cheekily and Hana glared at the woman.

"You really are a nuisance." she retorted, her chillingly cold voice sending shivers down Genis and Lloyd's spines. Hana then turned to leave, and Genis followed.

"Young man in the red...I would keep a close eye on that woman. She is hiding something dark within her." the fortune teller told Lloyd.

"Huh? Hana is hiding something dark?" he asked stupidly.

"Something from her past. Her cold tone is that of one who commanded large amounts of respect, and inflicted fear into the hearts of her underlings. There is darkness within her, and she is fighting to keep it controlled. I would stay kind to her...for your sake as well as hers."

With a cold itch in his stomach, Lloyd left the tent and he looked at Hana.

"What was with your tone of voice?" he asked. Hana paused for a moment before replying,

"I...I wasn't exactly the best person in my past...I betrayed someone close to me...and that is what I sounded like...It was a voice I had used to scare many people before." Lloyd gave Hana a funny look.

_'She's hiding something! I know it!'_ he thought, but decided not to push it. Hana wouldn't tell him if he pressed on, and if he got her mad, there might as well be the words _'Maggot Food'_ on his forehead.

The three went to the shops around, buying some food and new weapons with Hana's extra money.

"How did you get that much?"Genis asked. Hana looked away.

"Being a corpse raider means being able to gain more money from your opponents. I can find about a hundred gald from two hawks, when someone who isn't skilled in being as swift as I would only find twenty. Watch your wallet!" she warned and grabbed Lloyd's wallet before Lloyd could comprehend it was even taken.

"Woah!"Lloyd exclaimed and Hana tossed the almost empty wallet back to Lloyd.

"Don't worry. As we continue to fight, we'll gain more money than we should be able to hold." Hana laughed and the group exited Triet. They were only stopped by Desians.

"Hide!" Genis exclaimed, but Hana could only glare at them.

"You..." she hissed and the Desians hastily put the poster on the billboard and turned to face Hana. She glared at the Desians and wrapped her whips around their necks. "Fire Tail!" Hana called out, and the two Desians caught by the attack found themselves writhing in the ground, bleeding from their necks.

"You're...You're Hana Lumbari!" one of the Desians choked before dying. Hana only turned away and Lloyd gaped at Hana.

"How did they know you?" he asked.

"Kratos and I must have made ourselves infamous through the land. I suppose even those horrible Desians must know my signature kill." Hana shrugged. Lloyd looked at the remaining Desian, gasping for air before dying, a burn mark around his neck.

"That's a horrible way to die..." Lloyd shuddered, thinking that this was the darkness in Hana. Her merciless killing did seem to be dark.

"Desians deserve no mercy...they took my daughter...I'm going to annihilate them all!" Hana exclaimed angrily, and headed towards the exit. Lloyd and Genis caught up to her, and suddenly, Hana and Lloyd were both caught in an electric ball.

They were caught.

"Augh!" Lloyd groaned in pain before falling unconscious. Hana's eyes only rolled up in her head and she fell over as well.

"Lloyd! Hana!" Genis exclaimed before the three were taken by the Desians.

As they reached the Sylvarant Base, Genis began to cry. Feeling pity for the boy and his lie, they let Genis go, where he would search for Colette and the others with Noishe.

Within the Sylvarant Base

Hana awoke with a start, her shade protection awakening her almost instantly. She found herself lying in a cell, inside a very familiar building.

"For the sake of Martel!" Hana exclaimed and she looked around, eying Lloyd, who was in the other cell. He was still unconscious.

Thanking the Summons Neviros and Shadow, Hana phased out, killing the guarding Desian and prodding Lloyd awake.

"Lloyd! Wake up!" she hissed, poking Lloyd in the face. Lloyd groggily awoke, and he looked around. When his eyes regained their focus, he sat up, immediately alert.

"Hana! How are you outside of a cell!" he exclaimed.

"There's no time for that! I've got to get you out of here..." Hana shook her head and began to pick the lock.

"Dammit...Lloyd, you open this lock." Hana requested, upon failing and Lloyd did so. The cell opened and Lloyd ran out. The two searched for their equipment, and upon finding it, Hana cursed angrily.

"Those bastards took my whips..." she seethed and Lloyd eyes the fallen Desian behind them.

"Take his." he suggested and Hana stared at the Desian. Walking over to him, she eyed his whips. They were obviously of the Desian craft.

"These whips are poorly made...but they will do for now." Hana informed and Lloyd nodded.

"Well at least they're usable."

"Yes. Now let's get going." Hana informed and Lloyd nodded. Upon getting out of the next two rooms, Hana and Lloyd found themselves in a hall with two different corridors.

"Dammit...We should split up to cover more ground." Hana suggested. She knew this hallway well. Yuan's quarters were in this area.

"Split up?" Lloyd asked, feeling uneasy with the notion.

"Lloyd, eventually you will have to fight alone. You need to feel the rush of independence before you become dependent on the temporary." Hana informed.

"You're really insightful when you want to be." Lloyd grinned and Hana had to give a slight half-smile.

"Well...I'll go this way, and you can go that way." Hana pointed to the corridor ahead for Lloyd to go through, and the corridor with Yuan's room was the way Hana would go.

"Okay!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"If I don't come back here in ten minutes, I want you to go the way I'm going." Hana informed and the two went their separate ways.

Hana entered Yuan's room, whispering loudly,

"Yuan! I know you're here! Show yourself!" Hana looked around the room amusedly.

"Rude as ever, I see." a cool voice behind her chided and Hana whirled around to see Yuan, still looking exactly the same as the day she last saw him.

"Yuan!" Hana exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around the half-elf's neck. Yuan smiled, hugging Hana back.

"I can't believe I haven't seen you for ten years..." Yuan sighed. Hana smiled.

"Still the woman, eh?" she teased. Yuan turned pink for a moment as Hana began to tease him for the sake of it.

But the laughter was ceased as Hana began to go from laughter to tears.

"Hana, what's wrong?" Yuan asked, kissing her cold forehead comfortingly.

"Neviros...do you know where she is? She was taken by Forcystus..." Hana shivered and Yuan hugged her tightly.

"She's been in Derris Karhlan, but Yggdrasil is planning to send her to Asgard." Yuan frowned.

"Why! He didn't put an Exsphere on her, did he!" Hana asked frantically. Yuan could only look away.

"The Animus Crystals..." and he began to give a debriefing about what the Exsphere did. Hana became weak kneed and collapsed onto Yuan, sobbing quietly.

"She can't be...that might kill her! And she...she...she had her shade side awakened, doesn't she?" Hana asked. Yuan nodded.

"She's been learning how to phase, but she can't get far before she's found. I'm so sorry. It's my fault...Yggdrasil managed to find our about you and she from probing my mind. I tried to block out everything, but he got to you two before I could." Yuan apologized and Hana shook her head.

"Don't be sorry..."

"So who's going to get her? Say the word, and I'm there." Yuan informed.

"...I will...when she's taken to Asgard, We'll all go and get Neviros back...and I've got a bone to pick with Kvar. He has to die..." Hana replied and Yuan nodded. "Don't blow your cover by doing something as rash as freeing Neviros. I assume Kvar doesn't know that Neviros is out daughter."

"No...he thinks he finished you off."

"I'm going to be the one to finish him off." Hana released herself from Yuan's embrace and she looked around.

"Lloyd is coming...I'm going to teleport out of here before he finds me chatting with you." she informed.

"You can't blow your cover either." Yuan smiled understandingly.

"Kratos is certainly doing a good job of not blowing his..." Hana laughed and she planted a quick kiss on Yuan's lips before teleporting out.

As soon as she was gone, Lloyd burst into the room.

_Lloyd was reunited with Genis, Colette, Kratos, and now Raine, soon, and when they exited the base, they found Hana waiting for them. Colette, Raine, and Kratos gave her apologetic looks for the news of Neviros, but Hana shook her head. She knew where Neviros was, and at the same time, she could take care of the man she marked fifteen years ago. Kvar was going to definitely die. At her hands, or Kratos'._

Purest Shadows: Well...I hope you like this chapter! Oh yeah, if you want to make some suggestions or comments on how to make this better, better, please do so! I've been looking though all the reviews, and none seem to do that...please do so!


	5. Lessons

Purest Shadows: I'm back! (Again) Well, I'm kind of pissed off right now. There are students in my school (Birmingham High) that are protesting the immigration law. Mind you, I don't want this law to be passed, but when they had a sit it, guess what time they left? When school ended. If they truly felt that strongly about protesting, then they would have stayed much later. Even more so, we can't vote, and even if we could, it's not a law, it's a bill. Therefore, the _legislature_ has to vote on it, and for the sake of Martel, they won't pass a bill that will get rid of practically _one-third_ of their work forces!

This whole thing is **STUPID**

Anyway! Back to the story!

Chapter 5: Lessons

_The group stayed in Triet for the night, resting before they heading to the Triet Ruins, where they would release the Seal of Fire. Unable to sleep, and not needing any either, Hana and Kratos stayed awake._

Hana sat in front of Noishe, petting the protozoan's large head. Noishe whined happily, feeling Hana's cool hands scratch the back of his ears.

"Neviros would have loved to go here." Hana sighed, feeling her eyes well up with tears. Noishe whined again, nudging her arm with his snout. Hana looked at Noishe abysmally and she nuzzled his head with hers. "I know...you miss her too...Hell...you must even miss Anna and Kratos too...but he's here with us now. But I really wish he wasn't...I'm sorry."

There was a quiet sound of footsteps behind her, and Hana whirled around, her whips already wrapped around the intruder's neck.

"Oh! I'm sorry..." Hana apologized sheepishly. Kratos gruffly removed the tightly wound leather around his neck and coolly retorted,

"Are you sure you would have rather had my neck snapped in two?" Hana shrugged.

"Actually...I would rather not...for now at least." she replied and turned away from the red-headed seraphim. The two stared at Noishe, until Kratos broke the silence.

"I never thought I'd be traveling with you again. Both of you..."

"Me and Noishe? Or Noishe and Lloyd? Or even me and Lloyd?" Hana raised an eyebrow jokingly.

"You haven't changed, have you?" Kratos laughed lightly. Hana looked away.

"Of course I've changed. You can't live though nine years with an empty heart without change. I just chose not to show it."

"So in other words, you haven't changed."

"Don't twist my words, or I'll twist my whips around your neck." Hana's hands went to her whips. It was apparent that she wasn't joking. Looking at the night sky, Hana sighed sadly.

"What ails you?" Kratos asked.

"Neviros would have loved to be here."

"I...I apologize for Neviros' capture." Kratos looked down at the sand, a slight hint of sadness in his words. Hana looked away from the sky, and back to Kratos.

"How could _you _be sorry! Cruxis-the organization that you co-lead- took my daughter! Your niece!" she exploded, but not loud enough to wake anyone else. Noishe whimpered, as if wanting to lower Hana's fiery temper. Kratos looked away, so that Hana was not in his peripheral vision.

"I am sorry...I know what it feel like to have your child snatched away from you. You feel hopeless, and you want to cling to anything you can, even if you know it is wrong, and will convince yourself to think the same." he replied quietly, and Hana's angry eyes softened.

"Of course I know you know...for the sake of the two worlds, I was there! You couldn't imagine that Lloyd was alive, could you?" she asked. "Don't answer that...I know you thought that way. I would have too...and I am much more hopeful than you are...but I could never do what you did..." Kratos gave no reply. "I will never go back to Cruxis...even if I could, I would not...I had never believed in Yggdrasil's ways..."

"Heh. If only I had your's and Anna's strength." Kratos replied.

"...I actually thought you had died. There were so many Desians, and you were still in shock from Anna and Lloyd falling off the cliff. You do know, Lloyd doesn't even know I'm his real aunt..." Hana smiled sadly.

"I could tell. He called you 'Hana', as if you were an equal."

"Well, I am an equal to him. Other than my age...to think I'll be fifty in a few months."

"If only time was kind to us...then we would have the right to die."

Hana glared at Kratos.

"If you wanted to die, then why didn't you just remove your Exsphere!" she exclaimed.

"I was on the run from Cruxis. Why didn't you? Cruxis thought you were dead." Kratos snapped. This was still a tender spot for him. Hana immediately noticed this.

"Ooh...I hit a soft spot, didn't I?" she asked.

"You didn't answer my question." Kratos replied.

"You know why. You saw Yggdrasil threaten me with it over a hundred times." Hana glared at Kratos. Putting her hand on her Cruxis Crystal, she sighed angrily. "This has got to be the worst aspect of being a shade...damn demonic transformations." Kratos placed a hand on Hana's shoulder, only to have it jerkily brushed off.

"But you know as well as I that Yggdrasil can't kill you...you reflect Martel, even if he won't admit it. And of course, you can phase away from any attack." he chuckled.

"And yet Yggdrasil has ordered you to kill me if you saw me. I'm surprised you haven't." Hana added, taking Kratos aback.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Yggdrasil is a truly predictable person. With the hate he has for me, I assume for either 'taking' Martel's lover, or for how much I am akin to her, it would be obvious that he would want me dead instantly. And yet you haven't followed his orders." Hana answered.

"No...I couldn't. You are the sister of my wife, the wife of my best friend, my son's caretaker, and above all, a valued friend. Of course I wouldn't kill you." Kratos replied. Hana looked up at Kratos and laughed.

"You and Yuan are a lot alike. With the right words, I could easily make you feminine, and in Yuan's case, submissive too. And a valued friend, eh? Better not let Yggdrasil hear that." Hana gave Kratos a slight half-smile, the same one that only Anna and Yuan could distinguish. By now, Kratos was able to identify it as well.

"It is not likely that I would let him find out." Kratos replied, and Hana teleported away, and onto the inn's roof. As if on cue, Lloyd walked out, only to almost be beheaded by Kratos' blade.

"Woah!" Lloyd exclaimed. Kratos withdrew his weapon.

"I'm sorry I startled you."

"Startled...isn't the word for it!" Lloyd gasped shakily. Hana watched the scene display itself with a merry amusement, as Kratos began to explain that Lloyd should always be on his guard.

"I know...Hana told me that I needed to be comfortable with fighting alone. I...I've always fought with her or Neviros..." Lloyd admitted. Kratos nodded understandingly.

"That is true. The thrill of fighting alone is what gives one the drive to live. No one wishes to die alone, and I am glad that I know no one who has." he replied.

"But...if I'm going to be alone, what would have happen to everyone else?" Lloyd asked.

"...They may be captured, or worse. Lloyd..." Kratos began, staring at Lloyd intently.

"W-What? What's with that stare?"

"You need to stop childishly flailing your sword around, if you want to live." and Kratos walked back into the inn.

"Damn! Just because he's a little better than me, he thinks he can still push me around!...Okay...a lot better than me." Lloyd groaned and a loud giggle was heard from above. Lloyd looked up to see Hana sitting on the inn's roof.

"How did you get up there!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I climbed!" Hana exclaimed and she jumped down. Her expression went from joyous, to serious, and sullen once again. "Kratos is right, you know...I haven't been able to train you properly because I don't use swords...But I am sure that Kratos would be glad to help you." she smiled and Lloyd crossed his arms.

"But...!" he protested.

"Lloyd...until you can beat me, one-on-one, I will accept that you are capable of fighting on your own., and don't have anything else to learn." Hana retorted. Lloyd looked down. Hana pulled put her whips and pointed the end at Lloyd.

"Are you going to fight me?" Lloyd asked, incredulous.

"If this will prove that you still have more to learn." Hana smirked, and she went into an offensive stance.

"There's no way out of this?" Lloyd asked.

"You will get the chance to fight me on many occasions. You need to learn how to protect yourself, and how to properly fight back. With your current fighting capabilities, I doubt you would even scratch me once...well...to be nice, twice." Hana smirked, knowing that this would bring on Lloyd's ego.

"What! I could hit you at least twice!" Lloyd protested.

"Prove it. Fight me." Hana urged, and Lloyd advanced. Hana sidestepped, dodging Lloyd's onslaught. Swiftly turning around, Hana wrapped her whip around Lloyd's waist, whirling him around to face her.

"Ugh!" Lloyd groaned in pain and Hana glared at him darkly.

"You honestly think that you don't need to be trained under one more experienced!" she shouted. "I could kill you with one strike! Especially in the position you're in!" Lloyd attempted to slice the whip binding him, but it began to take on a purple glow, and Lloyd's sword bounded off of the leather.

"Enforcing it with my mana." Hana explained quickly before slashing Lloyd over his chest, smacking his cheek sharply. There was a red welt on his face for a moment before fading away.

"Ow!" Lloyd winced. Hana's attacks began to hasten with more rage, and Lloyd found himself on the floor then picked back up and thrown back down.

"You haven't even been able to make one hit! Do you think you'll be able to defend yourself alone!" Hana screamed at him, without any regards to who heard.

"Ow! Why are you so bent of making sure I protect myself!" Lloyd asked. Hana gave Lloyd one final blow, one that sent him flying back. Hana wouldn't answer him. "Tell me!" Lloyd exclaimed. Hana shook her head, her eyes ablaze with anger. "Tell me!" Lloyd repeated.

"Because I promised your mother I would always make sure you were safe! Hell, I promised I'd make sure _she_ was safe...but I couldn't even keep her safe...not her, not my own daughter, and if not them, probably not you!" Hana shouted, dropping to her knees.

"You promised Mom that you'd keep me safe?" Lloyd asked, getting up and walking over to Hana.

"You were three when she died...At the time, I was living with Dirk-no one else would take me in-and he found you, Anna, Noishe, and Anna's Exsphere. So when Dirk found all of you, he took you home, where I already was. You were unharmed, but Anna was dying. I had healing abilities by then, and I used them on Anna...but it wouldn't work unless she had an Exsphere. So we put it back on, and tried again. Anna stayed with Dirk and I for a week before she died, but in that time, she became like a younger sister to me. I promised her that I'd keep her safe, and not let her die, but she made me promise that if she did, I'd keep you safe, no matter what." Hana recalled and Lloyd looked away.

"I'm sorry...I had no idea." Lloyd replied and Hana looked at Lloyd, pulling the young man into a hug. Lloyd felt Hana's cool skin through the fabric of her clothes and he shivered. Hana immediately let go of him and she turned away from Lloyd.

"It's okay." she paused before continuing, "We're going to the Triet ruins tomorrow...you need to be careful. Promise me you will." Hana requested quietly and Lloyd nodded, though Hana couldn't see that, for her back was turned.

After Hana was inside, Lloyd stayed out with Noishe for a few more moments before walking back inside.

Upon opening the door to his room, he saw Kratos and Hana sitting in their respective beds, just talking, as if they couldn't sleep.

"You know, I have to wonder if he really won't cling to the temporary. I mean...she'll be gone soon." Kratos sighed. Hana nodded abysmally.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it is true. Lloyd will cling to Colette until the very last, and prevent the whole purpose of this journey. But...I don't want the world regeneration to go through. You do know, that no matter what, I will not allow this regeneration to go through." Hana informed.

"I know you won't." Kratos laughed, despite himself. Hana looked away and to the door, where she saw Lloyd staring at her in shock.

"You won't allow it!" Lloyd exclaimed. Hana eyed Lloyd sadly, and she stood up.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you," she apologized, "but it doesn't matter. You won't remember any of this anyway." and Hana phased her hand, and forced it into Lloyd's head. She moved her hand around as if looking for the most recent memory. Upon locating the last minute's memory, Hana pulled it out, fabricating another one out of her own mana.

When she withdrew her hand, Lloyd crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

"What did you replace that memory with?" Kratos asked.

"He fell collapsed due to fatigue because he stayed up making Raine's Key Crest." Hana supplied and she looked out the window. The first rays of the sun were already peeking over the horizon. "I hate being an angel." she cursed.

"Why?" Kratos asked. Hana gave him a crooked smile.

"You forget how to sleep." and she walked out of the inn, ready to go out and fight some more.

_When everyone rejoined, the party headed for the Triet Ruins, where Colette would release her first seal, of many more to come._


	6. Who is Neviros' Father?

Purest Shadows: Hello again! I wish I had more to say, but I don't. Oh yeah! I turned fifteen last Friday! Now I'm older than my sister again, who turned fourteen (while I was still fourteen) on the tenth. Now I'm older than her again!

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS...Don't spoil my happy mood by reminding me!

To Mez10000: Haha...yeah...I'm still trying to decide who should kill him, Kratos or Hana. Hmm...he gave Kratos a more emotional blow...killing his wife and almost killing his son...Hana...he almost killed, and Neviros is at his ranch...hmm...And Hana probably would want to finish what she started...Ohh! I got it!

Chapter 6: Who is Neviros' Father?

_Lloyd awoke, only remembering up until his fight with Hana and collapsing due to fatigue. He felt that something was wrong with his memory, there was something else that had happened, but what? He shrugged it off and the group headed for Triet. Along the way, the party had an amusing conversation..._

"Lloyd! You overslept!" Genis exclaimed. Lloyd grinned sheepishly and Hana rolled her eyes.

"He collapsed last night. You should have been resting!" she reprimanded and Lloyd winced at Hana's tone of voice. Raine looked down guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd. You didn't have to stay up making that Key Crest." she apologized.

"It's okay. I wanted to make it." Lloyd grinned and Raine smiled lightly. "So...we're going to the Triet Ruins, and releasing the Fire Seal?" she asked.

"Yep!Let's go!" Colette exclaimed happily and she clapped her hands to show her ecstatic mood. Everyone only smiled-Colette would always be this perky. But the Chosen had to be, if he or she was to carry on.

The group left Triet, and headed west, Kratos and Hana walking behind everyone so no one could hear their conversation.

"He doesn't remember." Kratos commented. Hana nodded, pulling a wispy red material from out of her pack.

"Here's his memory...Do you want it?" she asked. Kratos accepted the red memory, either red for Lloyd's mana, or red for his anger.

"Why is it red?" Kratos asked. He only hoped that it was because Lloyd was angry at the time.

"It's the color of his mana..." Hana sighed, remembering Anna.

"He inherited Anna's mana signature."

"Well, he does reflect Anna in every possible way. I mean, he's an idealist, way too nice, and he clings to the temporary...but that made both he and Anna more lovable."

"Don't remind me..."

"The only thing he inherited from you was probably...your temper...Except that his has a much shorter fuse." Hana laughed.

"You mean like you?"Kratos retorted. It was because Hana had helped to raise him that Lloyd probably got his explosive temper.

"Don't be jealous that Lloyd is more like me than you." Hana stuck her tongue out at Kratos like a four-year-old. Kratos glared at Hana before replying,

"If I had raised him, he would be a much more intelligent being. Anna wasn't stupid."

"Or maybe he got it from you." Hana grinned and Kratos glared. "It wasn't me! Neviros was never as forgetful as Lloyd."

"Or maybe it was all the times he continually rammed his head into the walls as a child." Kratos concluded, causing Hana to burst into laughter.

"You let him do that!"

"No...He was very crafty. Whenever I'd turn my head, he'd run right into the wall!"

"The walls, eh? Maybe it was because he saw me do it so many times when he was little."

"Then this is your fault!"

"Don't you dare put the blame on me, you negligent father!"

"You were the one that put it into his head that it was possible to go through walls!"

"Well it is possible!"

Everyone heard the last four sentences of Kratos and Hana's argument and they turned around.

"I see why you two split ways. Do you ever stop arguing?" Genis asked. Hana's eyes flashed a glowing red for a second, and Genis shut up.

"What do you mean 'negligent father'? Kratos had a kid?" Lloyd asked. Kratos and Hana froze.

"Well...you see...I was saying that he'd _be_ a negligent father." Hana replied weakly.

"So you had a kid! Is Neviros Kratos' daughter?" Colette asked. Hana's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and veins began to pop out of her forehead.

"Grrr...that's got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." she muttered and Colette grinned.

"So he is?" Kratos turned a deep shade of vermilion at the thought. Yuan would kill him if he ever heard _this_ conversation. He could just imagine Yuan hanging Kratos by the ankles, over a hot vat of tomato sauce.

"No." He informed curtly.

"Really? It would make sense..." Genis replied.

"No." Hana hissed at the boy.

"But-"

"No."

"It is-"

"No."

"Neviros-"

"NO!" Kratos and Hana shouted at the same time. "No! Neviros is _not_ his daughter. End of discussion!" Hana glared. Everyone swore they saw seam rising out of the top of her head.

"I guess so. You were talking abut a boy, not a girl." Raine concluded.

"So...is Neviros a boy?" Lloyd asked. Hana then pulled out her whips, and they lit up with fire.

"Neviros' papa is a different man. Neviros is a girl. Anyone want to question this?" she challenged, and everyone shook their heads. "Okay then!"

The fire in her whips cooled down, and Hana coiled them back up, attaching them to her waist.

"If Yuan heard this, I swear he'd have me hanging over a hot vat of tomato sauce right now." Kratos shuddered. Hana eyed him confusedly.

"How did you figure out Yuan is Neviros' papa?" she asked.

"You've only been in a relationship with one man. Your surname is now Lumbari. Neviros has blue hair. Need I supply any more evidence?" Kratos asked and Hana turned red.

"Fine, fine." she muttered and Kratos let out a sort of half-smirk.

Up ahead of the two, were Lloyd, Colette, and Genis.

"I swear that Kratos must be Neviros' dad." Lloyd concluded. (A/N: Oh the irony! XDDD) Colette nodded, sure of the same.

"But...Neviros has blue hair...and Kratos has red hair. Hana has purple hair, so it doesn't make much sense." Genis replied.

This hypothesis continued along until they all reached the Triet Ruins, and Raine went into her 'Ruin Mode'.

"This is so marvelous!" she exclaimed and Genis began to turn an embarrassed shade of red. Raine continued to rant on and on until she told Colette to place her hand on the oracle stone. The door opened and Colette clapped her hands.

"I must really be the Chosen!" she exclaimed.

"I thought that would be obvious by now." Lloyd replied. The party entered the temple, and headed for the seal.

(I can't do fight scenes . )

As Colette neared the altar, a white light descended into the room, flashing into Remiel.

"You have done well, my beloved daughter." Remiel smiled, though it truly seemed fake. Colette nodded, a cold feeling entering her stomach at Remiel's smile. "Now accept this new power as your first step on the path to becoming an angel." Colette nodded, and her arms spread out, receiving her gift, hot pink angel wings.

"Thank you...Father..." Colette thanked, but Remiel paid no attention to her words.

"The next seal is far across the sea. I will be waiting for you there." he informed and Remiel flashed away, only leaving behind a few feathers.

"So...the next seal is across the sea?" Lloyd asked.

"That's what the funny man with the wings said." Hana replied.

"That means we should head for Palmacosta. It's the city with the most ships, and should get us to where we need to go." Raine informed. "...I knew this journey would take me on a boat sooner or later..." she shuddered.

"Well then...to Palmacosta!" Genis exclaimed, and Hana shook her head.

"We can take a detour by going through Halonesia Peak, and even though it's longer, we may come across more seals on the way." Hana informed. Raine looked at Hana gratefully, though she knew Hana had other reasons for going that longer way.

Asgard Ranch was along that way...where Kvar was, and where Neviros was as well.

"So you want to go the long way, by land?" Kratos asked amusedly. He had a feeling that Neviros would be in Asgard Ranch, as all people with protocol Exspheres were eventually sent.

"Yeah...I hear that it's dangerous to go by sea, nowadays, and who really wants to go through a really dangerous path?" Hana asked.

"I'll just strike them down with my sword, and that'll be the end of that!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana shook her head.

"Do you know what kind of creatures live in the sea? Horrid, slimy, stinking Kraken with twenty-foot long tentacles, and they have eves bigger than your head. They could crush a mighty ship with one squeeze.

Raine shivered.

_'Hana isn't making my fear any less frightening.'_ she thought and Hana grinned at Lloyd's shudder.

"Then there are the most poisonous jellyfish you could ever find, one sting will kill you in seconds. Not even twenty Panacea Bottles would heal you." she continued, and began to list creature after creature, each one more horrific than the next.

"Okay! We won't go by sea!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana nodded.

"Good. You wouldn't want to be eaten by large pelicans anyway." she added and Lloyd shouted,

"Hana!" Lloyd then pulled out his swords and chased Hana out of the room.

"Hey! You can't kill me! you'll leave Neviros parent-less!" Hana exclaimed.

"Neviros will still have her father, right Kratos?" Lloyd grinned at the man and Kratos found himself a deep shade of green.

"...Humph..."

"Kratos is not Neviros' papa!" Hana shouted and she warped out of the room. "For the sake of the two worlds, Lloyd, you met Neviros' papa...even if it was only for a minute or two..." she sighed and waited for the others.

Lloyd appeared first, with Raine holding onto his ear tightly.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana tilted her head to the side.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Lloyd kept going on and on about Kratos being Neviros' father, and he got exceptionally annoying." Raine explained and Hana rolled her eyes.

"Say one more word about that horrible notion, and I will definitely kick you. Hard." she informed and Lloyd nodded, thinking,

_'You can't stop me from thinking about it.'_

"Sure I can make you stop thinking about it." Hana smirked, and Lloyd gulped. "Mother's intuition." she added and Colette and Genis warped next, followed by Kratos.

"Let's get going." Kratos instructed, and everyone walked out. Once they had all exited, Colette collapsed, and Lloyd rushed over to her.

"Colette!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine..." Colette replied.

"No...your not...you lips are turning purple." Raine replied.

"We should rest here for the night then." Kratos replied and everyone else agreed.

Later that night, everyone sat by the fire, eating Genis' curry.

"This is...missing something." Lloyd informed and Genis looked shocked, but grinned.

"Yeah. I wanted put some kirima fruit in it, but I didn't have any." he replied and added, "Don't try Raine's cooking." Raine glared at Genis and exclaimed,

"What's wrong with my cooking!"

"You have some very...interesting...turnouts..." Genis shuddered, and Hana laughed.

"I think all younger siblings cook better than their older siblings. My little sister was a much better cook than I was." she smiled, than realized that she said.

"You have a younger sister?" Lloyd asked. Hana looked away.

"I _had_ a younger sister." she corrected sadly. Lloyd looked down.

"I'm sorry." he apologized. Hana stood up and said,

"...I think I'll go over to that empty space...over there..." pointing to an isolated corner of the room. Colette sighed, staring at Hana as she retreated. Hana sat by herself in her isolated spot, staring at the sky with abysmal eyes.

"I guess she lost her sister a long time ago...and now she lost Neviros." she lamented.

"But at least Neviros is still alive" Raine replied with a soft, hopeful smile, "...or at least I hope so." she added in an undertone.

"Yeah...We'll find her." Lloyd smiled, and Colette nodded.

"Yeah...Hey...can I be alone for a while too? I...need to clear my head." Colette smiled and Lloyd asked,

"Can I come too?"

"I'm sorry...I need to be alone." and Colette walked over to the shore.

"Ha-Ha! You got re-jec-ted!" Genis mocked,

"Shut it, Genis!" Lloyd retorted. He walked away as well, going over to Kratos, who was with Noishe, once again.

"Hey." Lloyd greeted. Kratos turned to face Lloyd and replied,

"Hello. I saw that you said something about Hana's sister...she doesn't take the memory of her sister well."

"I can tell." Lloyd agreed grumpily. He stared at Hana, who was still staring at the dark sky, her eyes brimming with a thin line of tears she didn't want to shed. "Kratos...did you know Hana's sister?" Kratos looked away, feeling the sting of Anna's death as well.

"...I never met her...she died before Hana and I met." he lied. Recalling upon Anna truthfully hurt him too much...even if lying would be a mockery to Anna's memory. Either way, Kratos was not ready to change his mistakes, just yet.

But if the group was going to Asgard, they would find out about Hana's past. Or at least most of what concerned her biological relations to Lloyd and Anna.

"Oh...did Hana ever mention her?" Lloyd asked.

"Hana never talked about her sister...I don't even know her name. She kept many secrets from me, and even from her late husband." Kratos replied. Lloyd nodded.

"I remember. Hana got married the day after my eighth birthday. Some guy who's last name was Lumbari." he concurred.

"Yes. He died not too long after their wedding, according to what Hana had told me." Kratos replied. "Hana was devastated, and I lost contact with her not too long after that." he added, one lie building up after another. Hana was his friend, and he had to keep her past safe...

But in time, if she was still around, Yggdrasil would reveal who she was, and she would have to face up to her lies.

Kratos only hoped that Hana wouldn't run away, like last time.

"But if Hana married another man, does that mean you honestly aren't Neviros' dad?" Lloyd asked. Kratos' face turned another funny color, this time orange, and he replied,

"No...I never had that kind of a relationship with her...Hana is too aggressive, and like I said before, she was already with another man...Neviros' father."

"Oh...so Neviros' dad died?"

"Yes...and...do not tell anyone else of this conversation. If Hana wishes to speak of her elusive past, she will do so herself." Kratos advised and walked off, leaving Lloyd to quietly ask Hana's far-off form,

"Hana...what kind of a past are you hiding?"

_Each one was left to their own thoughts that night. Genis about how they would eat the next day. Raine for her fear of water, thankful that they would not be riding a boat anytime soon. Colette to what strange things were happening to her. Hana with the people who slipped away so easily, Anna, Yuan, and lastly Neviros. Kratos was left to speak with Noishe, missing Anna, and wondering if Lloyd would ever truly know about his parents. And Lloyd's thoughts resided with the past that Hana wouldn't tell, and Kratos wouldn't let him know about...and the haunting words of the fortune teller in Triet._

Purest Shadows: Well...this was a pretty long chapter. Sorry for the long delay. I actually had some difficulty writing this. But I like the whole controversy about who Neviros' father is. I assume that it will be none but a long forgotten joke in the next chapter...


	7. So Close To Home

Purest Shadows: Hello again!I suppose that this chapter will include the Ossa Trail and Hima and Luin...And I got Tales of Phantasia! It's so much fun!

To Mez10000: Haha...yes, the irony is awesome.

Disclaimer: Okay...I don't own ToS...sighs

Chapter 7: So Close to Home

_The Ossa Trail...Hana would be so close to her homely heaven, and never be able to reach it...her eternal damnation would forever prevent her from coming back..._

Everyone entered the Ossa Trail, and Lloyd looked around.

"So this is the Ossa Trail..."

"Yeah..." Hana sighed, looking around wistfully. She eyed the ground, feeling Ronoia so close, the protective Shade mana so apparent to her. Hana looked to Genis and Raine, noting that they couldn't sense the unique mana. Hana smiled despite herself, maybe one had to be in Ronoia themselves to recognize the difference in the mana.

"Hana, are you okay?" Colette asked. Hana turned to Colette and she nodded, giving her a half-smile. Colette mistook this for a frown, and replied,

"Don't lie when your frown gives away your feelings!" Kratos looked to Hana, and noted her half-smile.

"Weren't you born near this area?" he asked and Hana glared at him, her face clearly saying, _'Shut up!'_

"You were born in Izoold?"Raine asked. Hana looked away and shook her head.

"No...I was actually born in this forest..." she replied. Technically, she wasn't lying. The forest in Ronoia was technically in the Ossa Trail.

"You were? That must have been dangerous." Genis concluded.

"My mother was traveling through the forest, and when she went into labor, she wasn't able to go anywhere. My father was out farming in his fields and didn't know at the time. She was fine, the animals never hurt her." Hana explained, and everyone walked forward.

Hana walked over to Kratos and hissed,

"Are you _trying_ to expose me as a Shade!...I don't want the others to look at me the way the other angels in Derris Kharlan did..."

"I am merely letting the others know about the past you refuse to tell them about. Little by little, even though they will eventually know everything." Kratos replied. Hana looked away and said,

"Still...it isn't your right to let them know."

"But it is their right to withhold that knowledge."

"I know...but I am afraid of their eyes...how will they look at me?"

"I assume the same way they always have."

"Your words hold no comfort."

As they walked on, a teen girl jumped before them. She was clad in lavender robes, with a pink bow tied around her waist.

"Stop!" she commanded. Everyone stared at her as she asked, "Is the Chosen of Mana among you?" Colette stepped forward and replied,

"Oh! That's me!" The teen assumed an offensive stance and hissed,

"Then prepare to die." she ran towards Colette, as the blond chosen tripped and pulled a switch to a trapdoor. The teen girl was standing on the door, and fell.

"Err...should I have said something about that?" Hana asked Kratos.

"No. If you had, Colette may already be dead." the mercenary/angel-that-everyone-else-except-Hana-was-unaware-of replied. (A/N: Mercenary/angel-that-everyone-else-except-Hana-was-unaware-of...haha)

"Oh no! I did it again!" Colette exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!" she shouted down into the hole. "Is she still alive?" Genis walked over to the hole and nodded.

After explaining the gravity constant, Hana asked,

"Aside from the math witchcraft, she's still alive right?"

"Math isn't witchcraft, Hana, and yes, she's probably still alive." Genis confirmed and Hana looked down into the hole. Unlike the others, Hana could easily see the female assassin lying in the hole. She appeared to be struggling to get up, and was preparing to climb up.

Hana looked at the inside more closely, and gasped. That hole led straight to Ronoia!

"I think we should go...if she's still alive, she'll come after us..." Hana stated and Raine nodded.

"Yes. We should get going." They walked along the trail, and once near the exit, they saw a wooden wall on the cliff fall over, revealing the assassin.

"You again!" Lloyd asked.

"S-shut up!" the assassin exclaimed and charged. After beating her, and her guardian, the assassin 'poofed' away.

"Well...that was...odd..." Lloyd commented.

"Her clothes..." Raine mused.

"Huh?" Genis asked.

"It's nothing..." Raine replied. Hana and Kratos exchanged a glance.

"She's from Mizuho..." Hana assumed.

"Clearly." Kratos retorted and Hana glared at him. They all left the Ossa Trail, and instead of heading for Izoold, they headed for Hima. Coming back to Hima brought many unwelcome memories, for both Hana and Kratos.

As the group slept inside the inn, Hana and Kratos sat outside, talking once again. They still did not need the sleep.

"When my family first left Ronoia, we stayed in Hima for a night...it was my first time amongst humans..." Hana sighed happily, then her eyes darkened.

"And Anna and I..." Kratos murmured. Hana placed a hand on Kratos' shoulder and looked up to the summit.

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"You do not have to apologize. It was a very wonderful day." Kratos forced himself to smile.

"Your wedding was much more lavished than mine and Yuan's." Hana laughed.

"You two eloped."

"No we didn't! We...we didn't stay with each other..." Hana faltered. She moved her hand away from Kratos' shoulder, and to her chest, as if trying to keep her heart in her body, and not running free.

"So basically, you two had a no-contact long-distance relationship." Kratos retorted.

"Sh-sh-shut up!" Hana exclaimed, tears forming at the edges of her eyes.

"And you haven't see him since. How do you know he's been faithful? And how does he know the same for you?" Kratos inquired.

"I said shut up! I just know!" Hana shouted, and she looked down, covering her face with her bangs. Kratos' eyes softened, and he pulled Hana into a hug.

"You need not cry." he comforted.

"I said...sniffle...you should shut...sob...up..." Hana cried, burying her head into Kratos' chest, wanting to push him off a cliff so badly. Even head-butting him off this mountain would do.

"You need not cry." Kratos repeated himself. Hana shook her head.

"Yes I do...for the sake of the two worlds, Kratos, I miss him so much!" she wailed. Kratos hugged Hana tighter.

"I know how you feel...I miss Anna as well..." Kratos sighed. Hana only shook her head again and cried more.

Inside the inn, Lloyd awoke, hearing the sound of crying. Getting up, Lloyd quietly walked to the window and peeked outside.

He saw Hana crying into Kratos' chest, the red-headed man hugging his long-time friend/sister-in-law. Deciding to go out, Lloyd exited the inn and walked to the two.

"Hana...are you okay?" he asked. Hana moved out of Kratos' hug and wiped away her tears.

"Lloyd? What are you doing up?" she asked. Lloyd shook his head.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Hana looked at Lloyd sadly and nodded.

"I will be...this place just has so many memories for the two of us." she informed.

"What kind of memories?" Lloyd asked.

"Just ones about out old friends that we really miss." Hana sighed, looking at the clear navy blue sky.

"Oh yeah, you two used to travel around Sylvarant...Do you know where everything is?" Lloyd asked.

"Not everything...but most of it." the purple-haired angel-in-hiding smiled, and she shooed Lloyd back into the inn. "You need sleep." she smiled.

"So do you." Lloyd retorted.

"But I can't sleep anyway. You know...I'm worried." Hana admitted, and Lloyd nodded, understanding.

"You should go to sleep." Kratos informed. His concerned eyes persuaded Hana to nod, even if she didn't comply.

"Even if I don't need it?" she asked.

"It will relax you." Kratos retorted and Hana agreed.

"Tomorrow...we'll go to Luin...and I'll be back...there" Hana sighed, unable to call Luin home.

"Anna...she was born there, correct?" Kratos asked. Hana laughed quietly.

"You married her...you should know that answer." she retorted.

"Just checking..." Kratos looked to the sky, then back to Hana. "Do you think that this world regeneration will be successful? With the people here..." he faltered.

"I remember the day Anna told Yuan and I that she was pregnant. Do you know that we thought about your kid? Well...Lloyd?" Hana asked, a secret smile on her lips.

"What? That he was going to be a completely naive fool?" Kratos asked dryly.

"No...that was the second..." Kratos glared at Hana, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!...But anyway, we thought that Lloyd was definitely going to change the world...maybe even both of them...I mean, he has a Cruxis Exsphere with the soul of his mother (Even if it won't make him an angel), his papa, aunt, and uncle are all seraphim, his friend is the Chosen...hell...his best friend and his sister are half-elves!" Hana she exclaimed.

"You do have a good point...But you forgot to mention that you are a shade, and he is of Shade descent." Kratos informed. Hana looked away.

"...I don't want to know his reaction to when he finds out...if he does."

"Why?"

"...He once asked me for help with his homework. It was about the Shades...what the paper informed...it was so horrible! I mean...they called Shades demons...called them the people of darkness (Even if we really are)...that we were evil, worse than the Half-elves. That we had no life, and would suck the life out of other humans for a life of our own...I was so mad at Raine afterwards...but then I found out the Mayor had issued that paper..." Hana sighed...

"Hana?" Kratos asked.

"What?"

"You're ranting."

"Oh...sorry..."

"You should get to bed. And don't worry. Being a Shade is better than what you could become." Kratos replied, his reddish eyes darting to Hana's Cruxis Crystal.

"Your words hold no comfort...But I'll go." Hana agreed and entered the inn.

Kratos stayed outside till dawn, the rays of the sun caressing his face, like the hands of a loving mother. Closing his eyes for a moment, Kratos thought about his mother. He could barely remember her at all...were her hugs warm like sunshine?

"Will time make me forget about Anna as well?" he asked the lightening sky, as the others exited. Lloyd stared at Kratos.

"You didn't sleep all night?" he exclaimed.

"...I wasn't tired." Kratos shrugged, and Colette smiled.

"We should get going!" she exclaimed and the party trekked out of Hima, and towards Luin.

"Hana...what was your mother like?" Kratos asked quietly from behind the said Shade. Hana whirled around and gave a nervous half-smile.

"...She died when I was five...All I remember was that she was extremely devoted to her loved ones...and a bit pushy..." she recalled, remembering her fondest memories with Hinata.

"You seem to have gotten a lot from your mother." Kratos sighed.

"Why do you ask? Wish you were a mama instead of a papa?" Hana teased. Kratos shook his head. "Then why are you so interested in my mama? You wanted to know about Anna's mama?"

"No...I just want to remember what _my_ mother was like." Kratos admitted. Hana raised an eyebrow.

"You do know...it's impossible to forget what your parents were like, no matter how long it's been. Me...forty-five years...you? Maybe around three-thousand, nine hundred or so. The only ones of us who won't be able to are the ones who lost our parents at infancy. Like...Anna..." Hana sighed.

"Anna wouldn't be able to remember your mother?" Kratos asked.

"She never told you?...Well...I suppose so...Papa and I never really talked about it...Mama died giving birth to Anna...she was in her...sixties...I think..." Hana concluded. Kratos nodded in understanding.

In the front of the group, Lloyd, Colette, and Genis stared at Hana and Kratos talking to each other.

"What could they always be talking about?" Colette asked. Lloyd shrugged.

"Probably catching up. They did say that hadn't seen each other for...fifteen years." Genis replied.

"I guess that it would take more than three days to cover fifteen years." Lloyd assumed. The other two nodded, looking back at Hana and Kratos.

"They look like they're enjoying each other's company." Colette smiled.

"PUSHY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M PUSHY!"Hana roared, as if on cue. Genis rolled his eyes, and Genis began to laugh.

"They're definitely enjoying themselves."

"You act like a pushy old hag!" Kratos shouted.

"...I am not old! And you're older than I am!"

"But Hana is only...twenty-six... I think...she's not that old at all." Lloyd commented. Hana and Kratos stared at him, and the two started to laugh.

"If only he knew how old you really are." Kratos muttered and Hana began to snicker loudly.

"Wow...I must be really young...compared to you and Yuan at least." she whispered and began to laugh even more, raising confusion between the others.

"What's so funny?" Raine asked, finally deciding to pay attention to the conversation.

"Hana's only twenty-six, right?" Genis asked Raine. Hana laughed, trying to think up a believable lie.

"Well...I'm actually twenty-eight..." she admitted and dramatically brought her hand to her forehead. "Oh I'm SOOO old! Pity me!" she laughed and Kratos rolled his eyes.

"Yes...pity you and your senility." he retorted and Hana shook her head.

"You're just jealous that you can never be as young as me!" she teased. Colette giggled and asked,

"Were all your travelings together always this funny?" Kratos shook his head.

"Actually...it was hard...since it was just Hana, her partner, and I, we had difficulty getting money, going places, eating meals...and we were quite inexperienced fighters..." Kratos fabricated and Hana laughed.

Their travels were actually much easier, all three of them able to teleport and fly. No need to walk, and their money came straight from Cruxis. (And what Hana occasionally stole from dead bodies)

"Hana's partner? Oh...you mean her boyfriend!" Genis exclaimed and Hana nodded, looking up to the sky.

"May Martel bless his soul." she smiled, though she knew if Martel had the ability, Yuan would be blessed ten-thousand times over.

A slight bubble of jealousy welled up at the thought, but it was shrugged away. Martel was...gone...no matter what Yggdrasil would try to do.

"So are we going to enter Hima?" Raine asked. In all the conversations, the party had already reached Luin. Hana stared at the city in awe.

"...It has been a while since I was last here." she whispered, remembering when she drank herself into a stupor eighteen or so years ago.

"Didn't you say your sister was born here?" Kratos asked. His eyes were saddened with a longing for what had already gone.

"Yes...she was born here." Hana replied, and she turned to the others. "Will it be okay if I go around her on my own?" she asked.

"Of course you can." Lloyd grinned and Hana smiled, walking into Luin, and heading for a lone island near some old houses.

"Should we follow her?" Genis asked.

"No. If Hana wants to visit this city alone, she can do as she pleases." Raine instructed, and the others walked in the opposite direction.

Hana walked over to a small graveyard, where two neglected graves sat, side by side.

"Hello, Mama. Papa. I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit in a while. Have you been watching over me? Is Anna with you?" she asked the two graves. Hana looked at the two grave markers and brushed away all the dirt and dust covering it.

_'Hinata Irving' 'Naruto Irving'_ the plain markers read. The dates were unknown, both Hana and Anna not knowing the day Hinata died. They weren't even home for two days during the time Naruto had died.

"If you've been watching me...are you guys disappointed in me?...I wouldn't be surprised if you are." Hana looked behind her, to check if anyone was coming. There was no one there. "...But have you seen Neviros? She's so beautiful...looks so much like Yuan." Hana sat in front of the two graves, brushing away the fallen leaves.

There was no sign that either of her deceased parents heard her, only the rustling of leaves in the wind. Looking at the graves one last time, Hana stood up and asked,

"Have I been able to make you two proud?" she then stared at her hands and laughed in spite. "...I suppose not...I went back to Ronoia...and almost became a demon...then I became an angel...and got my own sister killed...I guess all I can ask now is to forgive me and to protect Neviros."

She walked away, still no sign that her pleas had been heard.

Elsewhere in Luin

"Umm...sir? Who are those two girls in that picture?" Lloyd asked a tavern proprietary. There were two girls in the picture above his wine collection, the picture yellowed with time and dust. They looked oddly familiar...

One of the girls, the older one, had bright purple eyes, and matching hair. She looked ready to take on the world, but a slight hint of fear was reflected in how she hugged the younger girl tightly. However, it was so loose, as if she was going to have to let her go at any given time.

The younger girl looked similar to the elder one, only she had brown hair and eyes. She appeared to be peaceful and gentle, never wanting to inflict harm. She seemed to depend on the elder girl, also hugging her tightly, but with more of an unwillingness to let go.

The proprietary looked at the picture, and his sixty-seven year old eyes softened.

"This was Hana and Anna Irving. They were sisters...with a tragic story." he sighed. Lloyd looked at the picture, and the proprietary pulled it down and handed it to Lloyd.

"The Hana in this picture looks like the Hana we know, doesn't she?" Raine asked.

"She does." Colette smiled.

"...What do you mean by tragic?" Kratos asked. "I mean, was their story really that sad?"

"...I don't know much about the story, just what Hana would tell me. You see, when she was five, she and her parents (They were extremely old, in their sixties or seventies) moved here to Luin, from some place. I never found out.

"Hana's mother gave birth to her sister Anna a few months later, but died due to fatigue. But you see, Hana was already traumatized by the journey to Luin. Since her parents were so frail, she had to defend them, and had to kill numerous opponents along the way. This also caused her to become traumatized as well. And in a sense, I suppose Anna was as well. Only a new born, and she hears her sister's screams. They could be heard throughout all of Luin.

"Their father, Naruto, hung himself thirteen years later. The girls didn't know, but he had left a note. He thought that they wouldn't need him, so he went to join his wife. Hana was eighteen at the time, and she took Anna to wherever she was born. It was the only way they could make a living, staying with their estranged family. The last time I had seen them, they were headed for the weapon shop, so Anna would be able to defend herself as well. Hana was already using double whips. One of them, she had unearthed from when she buried it in Lake Umacy, the other was was Naruto's, the one he used to hang himself with." the proprietary finished.

"This Hana used double whips? The Hana we know uses double whips too!" Collette exclaimed.

"Really?...I would like to see her. The Hana in this picture was the best door woman I had ever hired. She kicked out all the drunken trouble makers in the bar."

Lloyd nodded.

"We'll bring her here. Maybe she knows about you." Lloyd agreed, and he and the others exited the tavern.

"Lloyd, we can't get distracted." Raine instructed, "If Hana goes into the bar, and I'm sure she will, the proprietary will see her."

"I know...but-"

"Hey! There's Hana right now!" Genis exclaimed, indicating to the 'young' woman running towards them.

"Hello." she greeted with a soft smile.

"Hana, can you meet this old man for us? He owns this tavern." Colette requested. Hana tried to hide her surprise.

_'Freedy is still alive!'_ she thought.

"Okay then." Hana agreed and Colette smiled. Leading Hana into the tavern, Freedy spotted the woman.

"You there!" he shouted at Hana, and she turned to face him. When he saw her face, he gasped. He remembered both Hana, then the woman who looked so much like her, Neviros, and now this Hana, who was Neviros' spitting image!

"Yes sir? What do you want?" Hana asked Freedy.

"D...Do...Do you...you...euh...know this woman?" Freedy asked, at a loss for words. He pointed to Hana in the picture and Hana eyed the girl who was her.

"Umm...this was...my grandma...and that was Great Aunt Anna!" Hana exclaimed, feeling terrible for lying to Freedy.

"And do you know a woman named Neviros? She looked just like you, but I suppose she must be much older by now." Freedy finally stammered out. Hana nodded slowly.

"That was...my mama..." she admitted. "You know her?"

"She came in her one day. She held her liquor as well as her mother." Freedy replied. Hana looked at the picture, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

Kratos walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Hana only brushed it off and turned away.

"Are you Freedy?" Hana asked.

"Yes...did your mother tell you about me?"

"Yes...Mama...she was...she and Papa...they knew you?" Hana asked, remembering that Yuan had found her in Luin, drunk off her ass in this very tavern.

"Yes...your parents were only dating at the time..." Hana looked around the tavern, and she ran outside, not wanting to have anything more to do with Freedy, or Luin. This city could burn to the ground for all she cared.

Hinata and Naruto were probably extremely disappointed in her, and Anna...she let her down... Hana didn't even care if her parents' graves burned down with this city.

"No...I don't mean that..." Hana whispered and looked towards the graveyard. "Mama...Papa...you must really be disappointed in me now...I'm as far from Shade values as I possibly could be." she mumbled, and allowed herself to cry in the path, not caring who saw her.

"Hana, you really need to tell the truth more often." a deep male voice behind Hana advised. Hana hesitantly looked behind her, even if she already knew who it was.

"Shut up, Kratos. It's not my damn fault that I can't hide everything about me like you. These people grew up with me around!" Hana exclaimed.

"I suppose so. But sooner or later, all your lies are going to catch up with you." Kratos advised.

"I said shut the fuck up! I know that! I know! Dammit! I never asked for all this! If I fucking knew that this would happen...I would have...I would have...Argh!" Hana shouted in frustration.

"You would have given up, and probably killed yourself, but what would happen to the Shades? They'd all be taken to Derris Kharlan, where they'd undergo the Angelus Project, just like Anna." Kratos supplied and Hana glared at him.

"...Please...don't say that!...I don't want to think about that!" Hana exclaimed.

"Because you know I'm right."

"Shut up."

Hana stood up and hugged Kratos, pressing the crown of her head into Kratos' chest, as if trying to ram him away.

"Don't you hate it when I'm right?"

"I said to shut the fuck up."

_Hana continued to cry, wondering how all of this would continue. Her lies and secrets would be revealed...would she be able to protect herself from the treacherous eyes of her family and friends when they learned the truth?_

Purest Shadows: OO...This was eleven pages long...I really am making these chapters really long...Oh! And does anyone have any ideas for the next chapter? It's about the Tower of Mana, then Balacruf Mausoleum, and finally Asgard Ranch...I've gotta figure out how they're going to find Neviros. Man...at least it's spring break!


	8. Her Parents

Purest Shadows: Hello again! Well...I guess that I should just get started. (I'm so not talkative...) Oh yeah! I think that I'm going to make a third story after this one, because it's already eight chapters, and game is really long. So umm...the third one will finish off where this one ends, and finish the game, and will cover a sort of aftermath.'

Disclaimer: Yes, I don't own ToS...

Chapter 8: Her Parents

_While more seals were released, Hana's only thoughts were upon her daughter, and how much she wanted to get her back. Hopefully Yuan would be able to help as well, but only if it wouldn't risk exposure..._

Neviros lied in her bed, not allowed to leave her cell, for fear of her phasing away.

"Hey, isn't she Lord Yuan's kid?" a Desian asked another, pointing to her. There were always two Desians watching her, just to make sure she didn't try anything funny. Of course...the ones who guarded her usually ended up dead, Neviros killing them whenever she transformed. All for the sake of bringing out the Exsphere's nature.

"Hehe...she is...The man comes around often to see her, though he isn't supposed to. Honestly, I think that we should just exterminate her. She's got the blood of that traitorous Shade." the other Desian sneered at Neviros, spitting at her. It barely hit her, the Shade and Elven girl phasing away before it made contact with her skin.

"Hey!" she shouted angrily, only to get a whip lashed at her hand.

"Don't talk to your betters! You filthy Shade..." the first guard hissed at her, and Neviros quickly silenced herself, remembering Hana's words, _'When someone is clearly stronger than you, you should just shut up and ignore them.'_

"I only hope her old lady doesn't come barging in here for her stupid kid. Kvar still has that huge scar on his neck from where that bitch whipped him there. Ouch. If she does, we all know that we're dead." the second replied, shuddering.

Neviros looked down. She had heard so many things about her parents in here, some good from the prisoners, some bad from the Desians. And the worst always came from Kvar, who would personally visit her to give the child a good tongue lashing. Ever since he had found out about Neviros' heritage, he continually became more and more harsh to her.

He always said that Hana was a whore, someone who threw herself at Yuan, then betrayed Lord Yggdrasil by helping her pathetic sister get away with years of research.

"Hey! Here comes the big man himself!" the first guard exclaimed, and they stood up, saluting Kvar.

"Why, hello, you little bastard. Do you wish to hear more stories about how horrible your parents were?" he grinned sadistically at Neviros. Neviros only stared at him with her deep purple eyes, wanting to phase away, and hurt him so badly for speaking ill about her parents.

Neviros had only met Yuan, but he was such a kind person to her. He even showed her his wedding ring. Unlike the one he had for Martel, the one with Hana wasn't as elaborate. There wasn't much time for them to marry, and even less to get some decent rings. They were simple silver bands, neither one with anything on them.

Even if it was plain, Neviros thought it was pretty, because Hana obviously had one just like it. (And that Yuan had told her about the rings' secret.)

"...I don't need to hear what you've already said." Neviros retorted to Kvar, and phased away from his attacks.

"You little brat! You shouldn't even have been born! I should have killed your pathetic mother, but she had the ability to summon that blasted spirit! And to think she had to name _you_ after it..." Kvar glared and he continued to disrespect Hana, telling Neviros about how cold she was to the prisoners here.

Neviros only ignored him. She knew it was all a lie. All the other prisoners knew that Hana was a kind woman, how she let the previous group of captives free. Well, it was mainly for her sister, but Hana always prevented the other Desians from hurting the captives. If they did when she was around, the only people hurt would be the Desians themselves.

Kvar finished by lashing his whip at Neviros' forehead, right on her Exsphere, causing Neviros to roar out in pain. Even in her phased state, Neviros was always unable to phase her Animus Crystal with her. Then again, it was impossible to phase any kind of Exsphere.

Neviros just glared at Kvar, and in her young state of mind, was unable to control her anger. In her rage, she didn't even realize that she had transformed into a hawk, ready to rip her talons into Kvar's vocal chords. She released a loud cry, and began pecking at the bars angrily.

"Hahaha! Even with your elven blood (Diluted as it may be), you still can't control your anger! You are the most pathetic child I have ever laid eyes upon!" Kvar mocked. Neviros only clawed at the bars more, transforming into a bear, hoping that she would be able to break free from her cage. "You won't be able to break free. Soon you will run out of mana, and you won't be able to hold these transformations."

Neviros only continued to fight through the bars of her cage, wanting to stomp down her restraints and just tear all the Desians apart until she found her mama and papa.

Suddenly, the lights began to flash red, and a Desian foot solider ran into the room shouting,

"There's been a breach in the entrance!" Kvar glared at Neviros, and hurried off. Neviros soon ran out of mana, and she reverted back to her old self.

"What's happening?" she asked herself and a Desian pointed to a monitor.

"Hey look. There's some stupid group trying to barge in here, just because we messed up Luin." he laughed to the other. They both shared a laugh and Neviros shouted,

"Mama's parents were buried there!" one of the two men turned to her and lashed at her hands with his whip.

"Shut up." he ordered, and Neviros did as told. She could do nothing in her mana-less state.

In Another Part of the Ranch

When the party entered the ranch, they were met by Botta and his Renegades.

"Damn! They're here!" Lloyd cursed.

"Don't fight for now. Kratos is with them." Botta informed his men, who were already in an offensive stance. They were about to leave when Hana turned around and shouted,

"Wait!" Botta turned to her and his eyes softened. This was definitely the woman in the picture Yuan always kept with him.

"Please...tell your leader...tell him...never mind" Hana pleaded and Botta nodded, understanding that 'Tell him...never mind' probably meant 'I love you' or some other hidden meaning that only she and Yuan could understand.

"I will tell him." Botta agreed and he and his men ran off.

"What was that!" Sheena exclaimed and Hana looked down.

"...I met their leader in the Triet Ruins. I still have a bone or two to pick with him." she informed and she shuddered angrily, looking at the area. Her mood seemed to change drastically, going from slightly depressed to maniacally furious."First they take Neviros here, then they destroy Luin!" she shouted and slammed her fist into the control panel.

"Hana...calm down. Anger will only cloud your judgment." Kratos advised and Hana seemed to calm down a little.

"Still...I'm going to kill all the Desians here." she hissed and Raine looked at the controls. She brought up the map, and explained what to do.

"We may have to split up to accomplish this." she finished and Hana cracked her knuckles.

"I don't care. I'm still gonna knock down every Desian here, then kill the guy in charge!" she exploded. As if on cue, (For good irony) Kvar entered the room and glared at all of them. His eyes rested upon Hana for a moment before shaking his head.

"Who are you!" Lloyd demanded.

"How dare you barge here into my ranch, then demand _my_ name!" Kvar spat at him. Hana glared at him.

_'I wish I had finished off this asshole'_

"Lloyd, this is Kvar...one fucked up sonofabitch." she glared at him and Kvar only laughed.

"Watch your tongue young woman." he mocked lightly and Hana held up a fist, not even thinking about using her whips.

"Oh yeah! I'll take you on right now! Now tell me where the hell my daughter is!" she shouted at Kvar and his mocking eyes suddenly became overcome with rage.

"You're Hana Irving! I thought I killed you!...And if you're Hana...then you must be Lloyd...Forcystus was correct." he indicated to Lloyd. "That Exsphere in undoubtedly from _my_ Angelus Project!"

"Not Irving. Lumbari." Hana corrected at Kvar angrily and he smirked.

"So you had the decency to marry him when you became pregnant?" he mocked and Hana glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up." Hana retorted and Kvar laughed.

"Irving?" Lloyd asked.

"...I'll explain later." Hana replied. More Desians showed up, and Colette threw her chakram at Kvar. He evaded her attack, and retreated.

"That was great Colette!" Lloyd praised his friend and they entered the manufacturing plant.

They ran on until they reached a dead end, and there they saw human captives going through a conveyor belt.

"What's going on?" Lloyd asked, feeling a bit uneasy.

"This is where Exspheres are removed from the host body." a voice informed. Everyone turned to see Kvar.

"Do you mean...Exspheres are made from human bodies?" Raine asked, feeling sick as well.

"No...Exspheres are dormant at first. They take in nourishment from humans and grow stronger." Kvar replied and Hana glared at him.

"You sick fuck!" she shouted, forgetting that she was swearing in front of younger children.

"That's terrible..." Genis shivered, averting his eyes from the captives.

"You've done the terrible! You've taken precious Exspheres that we at the human ranches took so long to cultivate! You deserve punishment...and to you, Hana, you will be going to hell, where you belong." Kvar hissed and Hana glared at him darkly.

More Desians came into view, and Lloyd cursed.

"We're surrounded...dammit!"

"Lloyd, your Exsphere was going to be an offering to Lord Yggdrasil. It is due time that you return it." Kvar informed.

"Why do you guys always want my Exsphere!" Lloyd shouted.

"That Exsphere came from years of time consuming research! I will finally be able to take back what that filthy female host stole." Kvar spat at Lloyd. Kratos and Hana visibly tensed at Kvar's words.

"Female host? You can't be talking about..." Lloyd faltered.

"You don't know anything, do you? That Exsphere was nourished on subject 0012, human name, Anna. Your mother. And here now that I know that her sister is alive, I am surprised she never told you. Right, Hana? You were the one that set her free." Kvar asked and Hana looked down, her fists clenched tightly.

"...You shut up..." she hissed shakily. Lloyd turned to Hana, his eyes in shock.

"...Hana...is what he's saying is true?...Are you really Mom's sister?" Lloyd asked.

"Didn't I tell you that I had a younger sister?" Hana asked sadly.

"And...those Desians killed her afterwards!" Lloyd turned his shock into anger at Kvar.

"Oh no...don't blame me. It was your aunt here that led us to your parents, and your father than killed her." Kvar smirked, his twisted grin becoming more and more obnoxious.

"LIAR!" Lloyd roared and Kvar laughed.

"Please. When her sister, filthy traitorous woman, led us to her and your father, I removed her Key Crest-less Exsphere. When she turned into a monster, your father killed her. Rather pathetic, don't you agree?" Kvar asked Hana, who was still giving Kvar the most murderous glare.

"Do not speak ill of the dead." Kratos warned, his form still rather tense. It was clear that he was angry.

"What does it matter? Your parents were worthless humans. Maggots. Swine. Your aunt is even worse." Kvar mocked.

"Don't you dare insult my parents!" Lloyd shouted, but Kvar only continued.

"And your own aunt...she could have told you about your mother, but she chose to keep it secret. Why did you, Hana? Did you think he would be too weak to handle the truth?"

Hana pulled out her whips, and instead of them being lit on fire, they were encased in a shell of ice. The whips became long spear-like javelins, and she knocked Kvar in the temple with the end. Soon after, she lit them on fire.

"I should have finished you off when I had the chance." she muttered darkly at Kvar, and she wrapped her whips around Kvar's neck once more. Kvar was lifted into the air, his neck still burning, right over his old scar. Everyone winced at Hana's tone of voice.

Kvar was thrown into a wall, though unlike fifteen years ago, he only had burn marks on his neck. Hana was already out of mana, in her anger, she had released all of the mana she would allow herself to without suspicion.

"I won't give you the mercy of rotting in hell." she hissed at Kvar and slumped to the ground, considerably weakened.

The rest of the Desians closed in, leaving no way to escape.

"I'll handle this!" Sheena declared, and whispered, "I'm gonna use the last one, Grandpa." Sheena threw a card, and a guardian appeared, teleporting the group far outside of the ranch.

In Luin

"This is Marble's life..." Genis mumbled, staring at his blue Exsphere.

"That's such a horrible thing to know..." Sheena sighed. Lloyd tore out his Exsphere and shouted weakly,

"Dammit! This thing!" preparing to throw his Exsphere to the ground, but Colette stopped him. She held onto his hand and prevented him from letting the Exsphere go.

"Lloyd...you know that we probably won't be able to carry on without these Exspheres." Kratos acknowledged, "And that Exsphere was your mother's life...I assume that she would not like the idea of being thrown away. And I don't think Hana would like it if you threw away her sister's life either." he added and Lloyd put his Exsphere back on.

"...I know...and that's why I'm going to fight...to end all these people from becoming victims...But...I want to be alone for a while..." Lloyd sighed and he walked off.

After a few moments, Kratos joined him, and they conversed about Lloyd's mother, though Kratos still said he had never met the woman.

"...If you want to know more about Anna, you should ask Hana. She must know her better than anyone else, your father included." Kratos finalized and Lloyd nodded. He stood up and walked over to Hana, who was isolating herself once more, unable to talk to anyone else.

It made sense, with how angry she was.

"Shit!" Hana cursed, punching the ground from where she was kneeling. "I swear, I'm going to get Kvar...for what he did to my sister, and to my daughter!" she shouted and Lloyd looked away.

"So...you really are family..." he murmured and Hana turned around, nodding.

"Yeah...I'm sorry for not telling you...But you'd have bombarded me with questions that I knew you wouldn't be ready to handle. I couldn't even handle the questions I asked myself..." she sighed and placed a hand on her forehead, brushing her hair away from her face.

"...So Aunt...Hana...did you know my dad?" Lloyd asked and Hana's eyes quickly darted to Kratos, and back to Lloyd.

"I knew him." she replied. Lloyd looked away.

"What was he like?" he asked. Hana gave a soft smile, remembering her younger years with Kratos and Yuan.

"Well...your papa was really serious...so different from Anna...she was so free-spirited. Though when it cam down to it, she could be serious as well. What else about him?...Hmm...He was skilled as a swordsman...How else would he have been able to...never mind. But...if you want to know, he hesitated a lot...But he was strong for Anna...and for you. I wasn't even able to fight back to Anna when she became..._that_." Hana looked up to the sky, the stars comforting her, though Lloyd didn't know why.

_'Skies...please give me the strength to be strong during this time.'_ Hana thought.

"Was what Kvar said true? Did you really lead them to Anna?" Lloyd questioned further. Hana nodded solemnly.

"Yes...You see, they made me try to find her. I spent most of my time leading them the wrong away, but when they wised up, they went in the opposite direction I had told them to go. Right towards you and your family." she explained and her eyes filled with tears.

"Ha...Aunt Hana..." Lloyd began.

"...You don't have to call me 'Aunt Hana'...and I don't think you will want to very soon..." Hana looked away and Lloyd looked puzzled.

"Why?" he asked. Hana shook her head.

"Just promise me that you will end all your prejudice...towards all species..." she requested.

"Even Shades?" Lloyd asked, the familiar prejudice against the 'Half-lives' resurfacing. Hana pulled her knees towards her, hugging them tightly.

"Even them...not all people of all those races are bad, Lloyd." she informed.

"How do you know so much about all those races?" Lloyd asked. Hana, like Kratos, seemed to know too much. But unlike Kratos, Hana was much more trusted than Kratos, she having lived with the others for so long.

"I told you...I've been around...But in the end...you'll find out the real reason soon enough. Just...please don't think too ill of me afterwards." Hana pleaded and Lloyd nodded.

"I promise."

Back in Asgard Ranch

Raine eyed the orb the party had received from Pietro, and looked to the boulder blocking something. Lloyd approached it and tried to push it away. Even with the Exsphere strengthening him, the boulder still wouldn't budge.

Raine then grasped the Desian Orb and pressed it to the boulder. It slid to the side easily. The party entered the ranch, and reached the control room. She brought up the map again and once more, explained the situation.

"So, we're going to have to split up. Who's going after Kvar, and who's going to deactivate the guard system?" Sheena asked and Lloyd said,

"I have some unfinished business with Kvar. I'm going after him." Hana nodded.

"He killed my sister, and almost killed me...I want to finish where I left off." she declared.

"But what about Neviros? Isn't she supposed to be here?" Kratos asked. "The room where all the captives are is in the other direction." Hana looked torn for a split second, and she replied,

"I'll go wherever Lloyd wants me to go then." Lloyd looked at Hana, shocked that she wasn't making her own decision. The forward woman always wanted to do things her way.

"...I know that you want Kvar dead...and you want to find Neviros badly...but if we defeat Kvar, you can get to Neviros anyway...And I'm really comfortable fighting with you...So...You, Kratos...and Genis." Lloyd informed and Hana nodded understandingly.

"Yeah! We're gonna get Kvar!" Genis exclaimed and Lloyd grinned.

"Very well then. I will enjoy this battle." Kratos stated and Hana smiled inwardly.

"Raine...when you and the others find Neviros...don't let her think I forgot about her." she informed and the two groups went their separate ways.

Lloyd, Genis, Kratos, and Hana eventually reached Kvar's room, ready to take him on.

"Kratos...who's going to get to take Kvar down?" Hana asked Kratos.

"You've already had two chances, and you've failed both!" Kratos replied, clearly meaning _'I'm going to!'_ Hana rolled her eyes and replied,

"...I guess so...I did leave him a pretty big scar...Kvar killed Anna...so you can kill Kvar..." Hana sounded a little reluctant, but she soon replaced it with a look of hard determination, and a cold glint in her dark purple eyes.

The four teleported to Kvar's room, where Kvar was talking to a woman with green hair on a projector.

"I've found you, Kvar!" Lloyd hissed and the woman turned to Lloyd.

"I see. He does bear a resemblance." she stated.

"If only you wouldn't change the subject, Pronyma! I'm sure you've been stealing information from my Angelus Project!" Kvar accused and Pronyma raised an eyebrow.

"I have no interest in your little trinkets. Now would you stop accusing me of what I do not know? You've even joined into one of Rodyle's ridiculous schemes..." Pronyma retorted and Kvar glared at her. Angrily, he warned,

"Stubborn woman. But one cannot expect less from the woman who assumed the position of leader of the Five Grand Cardinals. I would watch out if I were you."

"It would not be best to allow yourself to believe that you can deceive Lord Yggdrasil for very long." Pronyma smirked and Kvar glowered at her as the line was cut off.

"So the Mana Cannon is no longer a secret. Oh well." Kvar began to advance as Raine, Colette, Sheena, and now Neviros as well, teleported into the room too.

"Get ready!" Kratos warned and the battle ensued. Kvar fell soon after, and Lloyd looked to his Exsphere.

"Mom...I've avenged you..." he whispered and Hana placed her hands on his shoulders, not sure if she should tell him about whether or not Anna would really be pleased by all this.

"Lloyd, look out!" Kratos shouted. Kvar was about to attack Lloyd, but Colette got in the way of the attack.

"You bastard!" Lloyd shouted and he ran to Kvar, thrusting his sword into Kvar's abdomen. Kratos followed suit, saying,

"Feel the pain" a slash at Kvar's chest, "Of those inferior beings" Another slash, "As you rot in hell!" Kratos stabbed Kvar, and he groaned in pain, dying.

"Colette! Are you okay!" Lloyd asked Colette, and even though the wound looked horrible, Colette kept going on about how it didn't even hurt.

"Colette, this is not okay! You need to get help!" Hana exclaimed, and Neviros noticed Hana there.

"Mama!" she shouted and Hana turned to Neviros, picking her up and hugging her tightly.

"Oh thank the skies..." Hana whispered as she cradled Neviros in her arms, tears now running down her face.

"But we need to help Colette, don't we?" Neviros asked Hana, and she nodded.

"Yes..."

"Can't you use healing powers, Raine?" Sheena asked and Raine nodded. After destroying the ranch, everyone went to Asgard for Colette to rest in. They waited for her to get better, a tiring process which took a whole day. It gave the group some time to interrogate Hana.

"Is that why the Desians recognized you? Because of what you did to Kvar?" Genis asked and Hana nodded, her eyes fixated on Neviros, and the strange green Exsphere she wore. Neviros was asleep in her lap, and Hana gently touched the shining crystal.

_'At least she had a Key Crest...'_ she thought and smiled.

"If you're my aunt, then does that make Neviros my cousin?" Lloyd asked. Hana nodded again, her eyes still fixated on Neviros.

"Why won't you talk?" Sheena asked and Hana looked up, made a _'Shhh!'_ gesture, and pointed to Neviros.

"She must be tired...Oh I'm go glad we found you." she smiled, cradling the girl's head.

"Papa...I'm happy I met yo..." Neviros mumbled in her sleep before the sentence turned into a loud snore. Hana smiled even more.

"So you met your papa? I'm so glad..." she brushed away the hairs from Neviros' head and looked to the others. "If you're going to ask me any questions, you'll have to be quieter." she informed. The others nodded, understanding.

"Neviros met her father? I assume that you telling us that he died was a lie then..." Raine replied. Hana looked up for a moment before looking back down.

"...I have my reasons, that's all." she replied, showing no signs of explaining further anytime soon.

"Did _you_ know that Neviros' dad was still alive?" Genis asked Kratos and he looked to Hana. She shrugged and he replied,

"I was keeping my friend's secrets safe. If she didn't want you to know, then I would not tell you." he replied. Hana smiled gratefully to Kratos, and once more, looked back to Neviros.

"I'm going to bring her to a bed...I'm sure she must be aching all over...sleeping in those tin beds." Hana shuddered and walked away, carrying Neviros like a baby.

"Okay, Kratos. Spill. You said you didn't know Mom, but you must have met Hana before I was born. Before Mom died. Why did you lie?" Lloyd asked. Kratos looked at Lloyd gently and then to Hana, who was tucking Neviros in.

"When did I lie? For all you know, I may have never met Anna, even if I knew Hana before she had died. Hana never went to visit her home until after the three of us were forcibly split up, and Anna died during that time. We met up again afterwards, and Hana married Neviros' father...I am sure they haven't seen each other since that day." Kratos half-lied.

The three of them _had_ gone their separate ways until Anna had died. Afterwards, Yuan and Kratos stayed in Cruxis, and Hana had stayed with Lloyd and Dirk, Kratos not knowing. And up to his knowledge, Hana had never met up with Yuan after that day.

"Why don't you ever say his name? Neviros' dad, I mean." Lloyd asked, "Hana's never told us his name either. Are you really not Neviros' dad?" Once again, Kratos turned an odd color, blue, and once more, thought of Yuan hanging him over a hot vat of tomato sauce by the ankles.

"I don't know why..." Kratos mused and Hana walked back to them, hearing the whole conversation.

"If you wanted to know his name so badly, you could have just asked." she replied, her trademark half-smile on her face. Lloyd, Raine, and Genis looked unconvinced.

"Fine then. Tell us." Raine requested and Hana laughed.

"Tell you what?" she asked.

"What Neviros' dad's name is." Raine exasperated and Hana nodded.

"Okay then. His name's Yuan." Hana informed and everyone eyed her oddly, not sure if she was lying. Hana then raised up her right arm, and added, "I swear on my sister's grave that my husband's name is Yuan." The others then nodded.

"So...Yuan Lumbari?" Sheena asked and Hana nodded.

"Why so many questions now? We should be worried about Colette..." she sighed and Raine raised an eyebrow.

"What about Neviros? We found her with an Exsphere, and even if she has Key Crest, she may still be unstable." she informed and Hana looked at Neviros worriedly.

_'Her Shade side was awakened...I'm sure she'll be okay...'_ she thought and replied,

"She had a Key Crest. It's not like it can kill her now...but we'll find out about what it does when she wakes up. It's an odd color for a Key Crest. Even odder than Lloyd's. Hmm...green..."

"Green...so...is that the Animus Project? I've heard things about it..." Kratos asked and Hana lo0oked thoughtful for a moment.

"...The protocol where Exspheres turn humans into animals?" she asked, and every (conscious) person took a step back.

"What! How do they do that?" Sheena exclaimed.

"...I don't know much about it, but when you put an Exsphere on an animal, the Exsphere sucks its soul in, and so forth. The more souls inside of an Exsphere, the stronger the pull of the soul into it. So using a Key Crest made out a special metal, it prevents the soul of the user from being sucked in. These special Exspheres allowed the user to become any animal that has had the Exsphere on it before. The more animal souls, the greener the Exsphere. Neviros' was a deep green, so I assume that there are many animal souls within it." Kratos explained.

"...So many souls..." Lloyd winced and Kratos added,

"The only safe place for this Exsphere is on the forehead. And only people of a certain mix of blood can use it. None of us, except Neviros, would probably go out of control and die."

"But what kinds of blood? I mean, Neviros is a Half-Elf..." Genis replied, clearly confused. Kratos opened his mouth to answer, but Hana cut him off.

"No need to talk about blood. The fact is, that Neviros can use it, and we _can't_. I mean...none of us have the same blood as she does." she answered and everyone stared at her. "I mean, _I_ don't even have the same blood as she does. I'm not elven..." she explained

_'Or human...'_

"But then human blood wouldn't be an attribute?" Sheena asked.

"No. Human blood is the blood that comes without any special traits. Elven blood has more longevity, pointed ears, tall, able to use magic. Dwarven blood gives more dexterity, rather short, wiry hair for defense, good craftsmen. And Shade blood...well that is self-explanatory." Kratos answered. He felt no need to explain about the Shade race, Hana would kill him for it. And everyone knew the traits anyway.

"Yeah...The ability to phase, cold skin, dark hair and eyes, pale, immunity to lots of things. And...they can become demons." Sheena mumbled.

"Only in special circumstances!" Hana burst out and suddenly walked out of the room, avoiding contact with the rest of them until Neviros awoke.

"Mama? Where's Mama?" she asked, groggily opening her eyes not long after Hana left the room.

"Hana's outside." Genis replied and Neviros ran out if the inn, and to her mother.

"Mama!" she shouted, and ran into Hana's arms.

"Neviros! You're okay!" Hana exclaimed happily, holding her child close to her.

"Mama...I met Papa, and he's so nice! He said he loved you and me more than anyone in the world, and he showed me his wedding ring!" Neviros began to gush about Yuan, and how she understood what Hana said about her looking like him.

"Well you do look like him. You have the same hair, eye shape, you have his nose..." Hana stopped herself, beginning to cry.

"Mama, don't cry...Papa loves you! And you love Papa. I told him that." Neviros grinned and Hana kissed her forehead. It was cooler than before, but it was still warm compared to Hana.

"I know he does...but...please...don't tell anyone about him...other than his name...they think he's our enemy..." Hana pleaded with Neviros.

"Okay...and do you want me to tell them about being a Shade?" Neviros questioned.

"...No...Please don't ask why, just don't." Hana finalized, and Neviros nodded.

"So...can you phase too?" Hana phased through Neviros and grinned.

"I was born in Ronoia." she supplied and walked back inside.

_With Pietro to revive, the newly reformed group headed for Thoda Geyser, where they may get some clues on finding Undine, and Boltzman's healing technique. As the party went on, they only had one main thought. What would happen to Colette in the end?_

Purest Shadows: Hey there! Well...I suppose that the next chapter is about reviving Pietro, and going to the Tower of Salvation.

Main Point in Next Chapter: Lloyd and co. find out about Neviros and Hana being Shades, and they meet Neviros' father for the first time!


	9. The True Darkness

Purest Shadows: Me again! I just got the COMPLETE ToS soundtrack, and I'm listening to it over, and over, and over again! Lol...But anyway, this chapter will skip over the last seal, and go ahead to the Tower of Salvation. You know, I like action without fighting. Though I'm not sure if you can call that action...

Disclaimer: Yes...I still don't own ToS...NAMCO does...Damn them...Making money off MY idea...Just kidding, lol...

Chapter 9: The Real Darkness

_After the excruciatingly long and drawn out (But very worth the trouble) process of healing Pietro and releasing the final summon, the group headed for Hima, where they would rest before their final seal._

Lloyd sat up, hearing footsteps heading out of the inn. Looking around, Lloyd counted all the people inside.

"Colette, Genis, Aunt Hana, Neviros, Raine, Sheena...Kratos must have left..." he assumed and walked outside, to follow him.

He really had no idea why he was following the elder man, but Lloyd had grown an attachment to Kratos, like any student to a good teacher. He had been training intensively under Kratos' wing, and before and after every lesson, he sparred with Hana, to see if he was strong enough to not take any more training lessons.

Lloyd never won, even when trying his hardest, but either way, Lloyd would still have trained with Kratos.

When he exited the small inn, he saw Kratos talking to Noishe, once more.

"I want you to continue watching over Lloyd for me..." he requested of his long-time companion. A man with blue hair then teleported behind him, and prepared a sneak attack.

Though in his mind, he was still imagining Kratos hanging over a boiling pot of tomato sauce.

"Kratos! Look out!" Lloyd warned and Kratos turned around, his sword slashing at the assassin's neck.

"Kratos...why must you always get in my way...!" the man growled and teleported away, unknowingly dropping something in the process. Lloyd stared at it and picked it up. Suddenly, Hana burst out of the inn, hearing loud shouts.

As she neared the two, she spotted the ring in Lloyd's hand. Almost immediately, she recognized the familiar mana emanating from it and gasped.

"Are you alright, Kratos?" Lloyd asked and Kratos nodded.

"Yes...I am fine, but I gave that assassin an injury he'll not soon forget." he replied and Hana approached Lloyd with a sad look on her face.

"May I see that ring?" she asked quietly and Lloyd handed the metal band to Hana.

"I don't see why. It's really plain, and I don't see anything special about it." he shrugged and Hana turned away. Bringing the new ring, and her ring closer together, they began to glow, Hana's green, the other one purple.

"...Yuan!" she gasped and closed her eyes, feeling tears well up behind her eyelids. "...Did he drop this on purpose?...He knew I was traveling with this group..." she asked herself, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. Hastily wiping them away, Hana turned back to Lloyd and Kratos.

"What's so special about that ring?" Lloyd asked. Hana looked down and Kratos asked,

"That ring looks like yours, does it not?" Hana revealed her ring, and Lloyd eyed them carefully.

"They're really similar...And by the quality, both are made by elven craft..." he informed. Hana looked down, knowing just exactly what the rings were.

They were made of silver, but as the metal was melting, they separate rings were infused with a small fraction of both Yuan and Hana's mana. Just to make sure that if they wouldn't see each other again, they would always a part of the other's mana with them.

"...May I keep this ring?" Hana asked and Lloyd nodded.

"I don't want it." he shrugged and walked inside.

"Does that ring belong to who I think it does?" Kratos asked and Hana looked at him with sad eyes.

"...I don't know. I assume that there are more mana rings out there than mine and Yuan's..." she sighed and wiped her eyes again. "It just makes me think of him...The mana is purple too..." Hana demonstrated by bringing the ring closer to hers. The two reacted to the mana, and they began to glow.

"His is purple? I thought his mana was green..." Kratos mused.

"His ring has my mana in it, and mine has his." Hana replied and Kratos smiled, despite himself.

"Well, we should get going..." he replied and Hana gave Kratos a cold glare.

"Yes...even though I know what you're going to do...and I sincerely hope that you truly no longer are on Yggdrasil's side." she looked away and back to the sky.

"I'm not...I swear I'm not. I can't be on his side anymore, not after I've met Lloyd again." Kratos smiled and Hana raised one hand and pressed it to Kratos' heart.

"May the skies protect you." she said, giving Kratos a traditional Shade blessing. Walking away, Hana went to collect her things.

Everyone in the inn exited soon after and flew to the Tower of Salvation on dragons. They ran through, until they saw Colette praying, and Remiel smirked as she offered herself, finally giving up her heart and soul.

"NO! I won't allow that to happen!" Lloyd shouted, and was about to run to to Colette as Genis hugged him around the waist, Lloyd struggling to break free.

"Lloyd, I don't want Colette to lose herself, but if we wants the world to regenerate, we have to!" he persuaded, but Lloyd only broke free.

"NO! COLETTE! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR DAUGHTER!" Lloyd roared, and he leaped out of Genis' grasp. Remiel only laughed.

"My daughter? Don't make me laugh. You only assumed that I was her father. I merely placed the Cruxis Crystal on this vessel."

"COLETTE! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, REMIEL!" Lloyd roared and Colette turned to him.

"_Lloyd...it's okay...I had this feeling that Remiel wasn't my father anyway...But even though I know that, I still want to cry, even if I can't." _her voice echoed through his ears.

"But Colette!" Lloyd shouted.

"_It's okay. If my sacrifice will save the world, I'll do it."_ Collette smiled. Colette the spread her arms out to her sides, her wings flashing out of her back. A bright light surrounded her, and her eyes became red.

"Oh no..." Sheena gasped and Remiel began to cackle.

"Now with this vessel for Martel, I will take her to Loyd Yggdrasil! I will become one of the five seraphim! Well...four since one of our seraphim betrayed us fifteen years ago." Remiel glared at Hana, but no one paid any attention to it.

"Is this what it's all about! Using Colette as a vessel for Martel!" Lloyd shouted. He withdrew his sword, and declared, "You're not getting away with this!"

The six fought for Colette's safety, in hopes that she wouldn't be taken from them. Upon defeating Remiel, Lloyd ran to Colette.

"Colette! Colette! Answer me!" he pleaded, shaking her shoulders gently.

"Don't waste your breath. Not only did she lose her memory, she lost the heart to hear your words. Colette is now merely a doll, waiting for the mortals' inevitable." a deep male voice informed and everyone looked to see Kratos.

"Kratos...what do you mean! The mortals' inevitable?" Lloyd asked and Hana shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. (A/N: God, she cries so much...)

"Lloyd, you idiot! The mortals' inevitable is...death..." she whispered and looked to Kratos' Exsphere. He wished for the inevitable, didn't he?

"But Kratos, what are you doing here, now!" Lloyd interrogated and Remiel weakly pulled himself to look at Kratos.

"Lord Kratos...help me...have pity on my soul..." he begged and Kratos only shrugged nonchalantly at him.

"Why should you, a superior Half-Elf, need to be helped by me? I was once what you hated, one of the humans." he glared and Remiel turned his body towards Hana, crawling to her, an act that shocked everyone more than Remiel calling Kratos 'Lord'.

"Lady Hana...help me...can you have pity on my soul?" he begged. Hana glared at him and turned away.

"What soul? You were the one that claimed I was no longer one of the Five Seraphim." she hissed and added, with a sad look on her face, "Though I denounced that title long ago anyway...that does not change my species." she raised her eyebrows at him tauntingly and the others gasped as well.

"Kratos...and Hana...you two are...angels!" Genis exclaimed. Kratos and Hana both began to glow a bright white, and blue butterfly-like angel wings sprouted out of Kratos' back, while purple dragonfly ones came out of Hana's.

"Hana may still be an angel, but she is no longer one of us. A 'fallen angel' if you please. But she was fallen from the start." Kratos glared, using Hana's Shade blood as a soft spot.

"I would shut up if I were you. You knew from the moment I was captured that I was never on the side of Cruxis. I am not the traitor if I was never on their side in the first place. You are the traitor." Hana spat at him, and Lloyd turned to Hana.

"Who's side are you on?" he asked.

"...I wish that I didn't have to do this...actually fighting my friend, but I side with you." Hana replied and pulled out her whips.

"I won't let you take Colette for Martel's vessel!" Lloyd shouted at Kratos, and he prepared to fight. As Hana ran towards Kratos as well, she mumbled with her forlorn half-smile,

"We shouldn't have to fight like this." and Kratos' blade struck Hana's side.

"I know we shouldn't. So forgive me for taking you out of the fight so soon." Kratos mumbled back and Hana dropped to the ground.

"MAMA!" Neviros shouted and she headed into battle as well. After fighting Kratos, a battle that was not easily won, Lloyd rushed to Colette, and Neviros to Hana.

"Are you okay, Mama?" she asked and Hana sat up, finding it difficult to sit up.

"I'm fine..." Hana gave her daughter her trademark half-smile and a blond angel appeared before them.

"I suppose that even you couldn't defeat such an opponent." he spat at Kratos, who shakily stood.

"Lord Yggdrasil." he addressed formally and Yggdrasil eyed Hana.

"I thought I told you to kill this traitor." he glared and was ready to strike an already weak Kratos down when Hana stood up, and rushed before Yggdrasil, violently pulling out her Exsphere.

"Augh!" she screamed in pain as her body twisted into a horrid demonic black skeleton with too many arms and not enough legs. The Hana-demon approached Yggdrasil, all four of her hands ready to strike Yggdrasil down.

All the others only watched in fear as Yggdrasil backed away from Hana. She grabbed him by the neck and hissed angrily,

"_You made me into this...now I will make it rain your blood."_ Hana's other three hands raised to strike Yggdrasil in the abdomen, but a quicker Yggdrasil struck her in the chest, and an already weakened Hana was thrown back, her body reverting to her original form.

"You were always a pathetic, hot-headed Shade." Yggdrasil dusted off his pants and laughed at everyone's shocked looks.

"A Shade?...You're not lying, are you?" Lloyd asked, not sure of what to make of this new information. Yggdrasil continued to laugh and walked over to Hana.

"I am not lying. Watch." Yggdrasil grabbed Hana by the neck and threw her into Genis. Instinctively, Hana phased before she made contact with the small boy and collided into a wall.

"...That's why I never wanted to take off my Exsphere...Shades who return to Ronoia become _that_ and the only way not to is to become an angel..." Hana explained and Neviros ran to her, Hana's Exsphere in her hand. She gently placed it onto Hana's forehead and pleaded,

"Mama! You don't have to explain yourself to them! If they don't accept us as Shades, then we will just go with Papa!" Yggdrasil glared at her. Hana only slumped down, falling unconscious. Now she was unable to protect her daughter...

"You pathetic mutt. Your latent Shade blood was released by your Elven blood...disgusting...it is the only thing keeping your Animus Crystal from causing your death, or your insanity." Yggdrasil hissed.

"You still smell like death." she replied and turned back to Hana. Yggdrasil was about to attack Neviros for her comment, but he was stopped by a missed shot, aimed for his chest.

Botta and some other men came running into the room, and he cursed,

"The Chosen has already become an angel! We have no choice. Take her back alive!" A teleportation circle appeared around Colette, where she and the others were teleported away.

"The Renegades...always as irritating as ever...Still, it will not matter. Let's go, Kratos." Yggdrasil ordered and Kratos nodded.

"As you wish." he agreed and Yggdrasil teleported away. "You were saved by the Renegades...I am, for once, thankful for them. Don't die, Lloyd..." Kratos let out a small smile and teleported as well.

In the Renegade Base

Lloyd sat up abruptly, his hands straight before them, as if trying to reach something in a dream.

"Augh! Colette! Where's Colette!" he shouted and Genis ran to him.

"You're finally awake!" he exclaimed. Lloyd brought a hand to his head.

"Ugh...Angels...Kratos...Hana...her and Neviros being Shades...and Hana became a demon...where's Hana too!" Lloyd exclaimed, after not seeing Hana amongst the others. Colette was there, like a doll, but Hana was nowhere to be seen.

"The Renegades took Hana to a separate room. She got beat up pretty badly...though she did do most of it herself. She was being selfish, removing her Exsphere, at the cost of her life, just to get revenge on her old boss!" Genis exclaimed and Raine smacked him upside the head.

"Quiet!...But I am worried. I have read that Shades recover very quickly, but Hana still hasn't woken up. You've been knocked out for about half a day." she informed and Genis and Sheena relayed the information they had just learned back to Lloyd.

"So...these people aren't Desians. They're Renegades, and Kratos is..." Lloyd looked down. How could Kratos be his enemy? The man Lloyd had grown to look up to, as a teacher, a friend, a brother...he was their enemy?

"He's our enemy!" Sheena shouted angrily and Lloyd then averted his eyes to Colette.

"She's still not back to normal..." he sighed.

The doors opened and a Renegade Solider approached them.

"Good. You've finally awakened. We need you to come see our leader. He is currently with your friend, Hana." he informed.

"How is she?" Neviros asked.

"She still hasn't awakened. Foolish woman, I don't see why Lord Yuan loves her..." he muttered and everyone gaped.

"So...he must be..." Sheena gasped and they all walked over to where Hana and the Renegade leader, Yuan, was.

When everyone entered the room, they spotted Hana lying on a bed, apparently Yuan's. They were silent as they saw Yuan just sitting there, holding Hana's hand gently.

"Why did you do that! You're such a martyr, Hana!" he shouted and Lloyd approached him.

"You're Yuan, right?" Lloyd asked and Yuan turned around. Neviros recognized her father and ran up to him.

"Papa!" she exclaimed and Yuan pulled her into a hug.

"Hello, Neviros. And yes, I am the Renegade leader." Yuan answered Lloyd's question and Lloyd nodded.

"How's Hana?" he asked and Yuan looked back to his wife sadly.

"I can't tell. She's phased, so we can't hook any monitors to her. All we know is that she's alive." he informed. Raine walked up to Hana and asked,

"May I?" Yuan nodded.

"Be my guest." Raine brought her hands up to Hana's chest and shouted,

"Resurrection!" Hana's body began to solidify, and her eyes snapped open.

"Oh my god! How the hell did we get here?" she screamed and spotted Yuan, carrying Neviros. Hana sat up and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. "You fucking mother hen." she reprimanded and Yuan winced at the definite mock in her voice. "But anyway! Since I'm up, Yuan, can you please stop sitting on my legs?" she asked with saccharine sweetness in her voice and Yuan turned red, standing up abruptly. Hana got out of bed and smiled, as if everything the others found out about her was nothing important. But to her, it wasn't. Yuan frowned at Hana and she grinned.

"I can't see your legs when you phase!" he exclaimed and Genis asked,

"Are all the members of strange organizations crazy? OW!" at that comment, Raine smacked Genis in the head once more.

Yuan began to stammer, and Hana rolled her eyes, smacking Yuan herself.

"Get a grip and explain everything else to them!" she shouted and Yuan glared at her.

"I haven't seen you since we last met here, and you're already hitting me again?" he muttered, causing Hana to laugh.

"You _were_ going to take forever. Whatever. I'll explain myself." she rolled her eyes and explained all about the Church of Martel, the Desians, Cruxis, and the Renegades.

"I guess we all know who wears the pants in this relationship." Sheena giggled and Yuan turned red.

"See? I told you you were too feminine." Hana teased and Yuan glared.

"So would you if I used the whips instead of..." Yuan shut himself up in mid-sentence before tarnishing the minds of the children in the room (But mainly Neviros).

"...Okay...Ignoring the kinkiness that we all know Hana is capable of," Raine informed, causing Hana to blush, "We must get to the point."

"We don't need the Chosen. She is obsolete to us now." Yuan informed and Renegade soldiers circled the group. Hana and Neviros ran into the circle and Yuan looked confused.

"I'm kinda mad at you right now." Hana explained and Yuan looked away, remembering that he no longer had his wedding ring with him.

"Oh..."

"Besides, you learn more from your foes than you do your friends. Or in our case, lovers. But anyway, for the sake of learning, I will be your foe-on-friendly-terms." Hana added, winking and Lloyd kicked Yuan in the chest.

"Your wound from Hima hasn't completely healed!" one of the Renegade soldiers shouted and Lloyd and the others ran off.

"So...Yuan was the one who attacked Kratos at Hima..." Lloyd concluded as they ran off.

Everyone ran towards the exit, and when they found out that it was locked, Hana and Neviros phased to the other side to check it out.

"We can't open the door!" Hana shouted and they phased back inside.

"So where can we go?" Lloyd asked.

"...Sheena, where did you get your Exsphere?" Raine asked and Sheena turned to her.

"That's sudden. I got this before I got here, at the Imperial Research Academy." she explained and Hana nodded.

"Oh yeah...I remember...Tethe'alla is flourishing, so they ought to know more about about Exspheres and crap. We should go there to figure out a cure for Colette. The city with all the smart people is...Sybak, if my memory is still working properly." Hana grinned and Sheena nodded.

"That's right...you were in Cruxis...and they can probably go to both worlds..." Genis sighed and Hana nodded.

"Yeah. But the past is the past...and the only thing I'm going to hold onto from it are the promises." she replied sadly.

"Either way, we have to get to Tethe'alla. How did you get here?" Raine asked.

"Oh...I got here on a vehicle called a Rheaird. They're the only crafts that can break through the dimensions between the worlds." Sheena explained.

"But where would their Rheairds be?" Neviros asked. Everyone looked to Hana, who took a step back and raised her hands up in innocence.

"You did marry Yuan, so you should know this base pretty well..." Raine informed and Hana blushed.

"I just feel bad, you know, it's like I'm snooping though my own husband's closet. And then I'll be stealing money from his wallet. I don't know. It just doesn't feel right to me." Hana sighed and Lloyd laughed.

"And here I thought you were okay with sneaking around...you did it all the time when I was a kid. To go here, I assume?" he teased and Hana smacked him on the head.

"You shut up about that. I'm a grown woman. I can sleep with whomever I want. I just chose Yuan." Hana snapped at Lloyd and groaned. "Fine. I'll lead the way." Hana glared at them and everyone laughed.

"Mama...why are you blushing?" Neviros asked and Hana shook her head. She remembered pushing Yuan onto that wall and...the thoughts were too vividly graphic for her to recall upon. (A/N: And I'm keeping this T at that.) And in that cell over there...they played bondage for a few hours...Hana had a red cuff mark on her ankle for a weeks afterwards...not that Yuan wasn't marked too...

_'Wow...is there a surface here that Yuan and I _didn't_ fuck on?'_ Hana thought. And she shouldn't even get started on the Tethe'alla base. It was so much easier to use mana to their advantage...Hana turned even redder.

"Hana...how long were you and Yuan together before you two lost contact?" Raine asked. Hana counted on her fingers then on strands of hair.

"Ten years..." Hana replied and Sheena asked,

"How often did you two meet here?"

"Oh...about once a day for the first five years, then once a week for the next five..."

"What did you do?" Genis asked and Hana turned even redder.

"If I told you, you'd have nightmares until you came to enjoy it yourself." she replied and Neviros looked confused.

"How can a nightmare become enjoyable?" she asked.

"Depends on what you're doing." the words almost shot out of Hana's mouth, without her even thinking. She spotted a control panel and tried her hardest to not think about how painful it was to lie on that thing...So many buttons pressed into her back...

In no time at all, Hana led the group to the hangar, where Hana saw yet another surface that she and Yuan 'defiled' Raine went to the control panel and was about to press the 'start' buttons, Hana blurted out,

"Don't touch that!" Raine stared at her and Hana walked up to the panel.

"...Umm...I mean...you wouldn't...want to...touch that..." Hana replied and Raine and Sheena understood.

"There!" Sheena exclaimed. Hana nodded, her cheeks flaring.

"And where you're standing too." she added and Sheens jumped away from that spot.

"So...would you turn the portal on?" Raine asked and Hana nodded.

Everyone hopped onto a Rheaird and they flew into Tethe'alla.

"Mama, we're flying, we're flying!" Neviros exclaimed happily and Hana nodded, an odd feeling of relief falling over her.

They still hadn't bombarded her with questions yet.

_As the Rheairds flew, they ran out of fuel, unable to fly without enough mana in the atmosphere. They crashed into the Fooji Mountains, and the unharmed party headed for Meltokio._

Purest Shadows: I'm so innocent. I was turning red writing about the 'defiling of every surface in both bases'...Anyway, I think I won't put any more of those until Lloyd and co. reach the other base...and that's probably it. Thank Martel too. My cheeks can't handle all the blood rushing to them...


	10. It Hasn't Changed

Purest Shadows: Hello there, Purest Shadows speaking! Sorry about the really long update. I've been playing the gave over again, and I'm trying to get to this point in the game to make things easier for me to remember. I can't get much out of the synopsis.

Disclaimer: Looks at Neviros Do I have to?...Fine...I don't own ToS...just Hana, Neviros, and the Shade-stuff...

Chapter 10: It Hasn't Changed

_It was odd being on the other side of the two worlds. The mana was thicker, everything was growing and flourishing. Hence the name, 'Flourishing World'. But just because The status was better, didn't mean that everyone was well off._

"What do you mean, where are we going! You're the one that said, 'Let's go!' as if you knew where you _were_ going!" Sheena exclaimed and Lloyd winced.

"Hehe...I got caught up in the moment..." he laughed sheepishly and Genis rolled his eyes. He was about to come up with some smart-assed comeback, but someone beat him to it.

"Watch your big mouth! You could get us killed like that!" Neviros exclaimed and Lloyd winced again. He was being reprimanded by a nine-year-old...Neviros giggled at Lloyd's sullen face as the group walked towards Meltokio.

"I hate Meltokio...the Pope is such an asshole..." Hana grumbled to herself as they all entered the city limits. Sheena stopped herself at the gates.

"I've gotta go back and report my failure to the chief." she explained sheepishly and Raine nodded.

"Will we see each other again?" Neviros asked, hugging Sheena around the waist, causing her to blush and nodded in confirmation.

"Sure we will. Now here's my letter. If you show it, you'll be granted immediate audience with the king." she confirmed, though she had no idea herself. Pulling Neviros' arms off her, Sheena walked away, leaving only the residents of Sylvarant behind.

"So where do we go from here?" Genis asked and Hana rolled her eyes.

"Use your _eyes_. There is one big castle ahead of us." she informed and pointed to the gargantuan building, towering above the rest of the buildings. Everyone's eyes widened at the size of the castle and Lloyd awed,

"Wow...that is one big castle..."

"It's the only castle..." Hana replied and everyone headed in. Neviros walked over to a lifeless Colette, her eyes blank and red. It was so odd to Neviros, and she tugged on Colette's sleeve.

"Colette? Are you playing?" she asked, only to receive no response. Remembering how Colette loved dogs, Neviros turned into a dog herself, and sniffed Colette's hand, whining sadly.

Colette's head turned to the Neviros-dog and kicked her. Neviros reverted to her old form, and slammed into a wall, breaking her wrist.

"Ow!" she exclaimed and a strange man (With even stranger clothes) walked over to them.

"Ahahaha. That's a fine violent young lady there." he laughed and Hana glared at him. She ran over to Neviros, calling Raine over. Neviros was sitting on the ground, bawling at how much her wrist hurt.

"Mama...it hurts..." she whimpered and Hana gently moved the bone into place so it would heal correctly. Raine brought her hands to the fractured bone and called out,

"First Aid!" causing the bone to meld together. Neviros stopped crying and moved her healed wrist.

"And Colette used to love dogs..." Lloyd sighed and everyone painstakingly edged away from Colette, not wanting to be broken in any way. "Do you think the king here will be able to help?" he asked Hana, who looked at the castle with a cold stare.

"...He'd better..." she muttered and walked ahead, everyone following her. As they walked on, they ran into a group led by a red-headed man. The only man in the group. And this was a pretty large group.

Everyone stopped to let them pass, but Colette continued to walk on, bumping into one of the women.

"Hey! Watch it!" the woman glared at Colette, and the others began to admonish the soul-less teen. In Colette's defense, Lloyd and the others began to jeer at the other women as well. Before it got out of hand, the red-haired man stood between them and declared,

"Hey, calm down hunnies! Now, are you hurt, my little angel?" he asked Colette. He received no response, so he decided for a more 'physical' approach. Placing his hand on Colette's shoulder, he winked and said, "You know, I bet you're as cute as a button when you smile." In no time at all, the man was thrown in another direction.

To everyone's surprise, he landed on his feet, seemingly okay. Despite his clearly unharmed state, the women following him all screamed,

"Master Zelos!" and rushed over to him.

"...Zelos? Could he be?" Hana asked herself, then shook her head. "Nah...The Chosen could never be such a philandering man-whore."

Her comments were promptly ignored, for Zelos approached Colette with an obnoxious grin.

"Wow. You certainly are strong, my little angel. You definitely startled me!" he exclaimed.

"Wh..who are you?" Lloyd asked, still a bit shaken that this strange man was able to react so quickly.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in talking to guys." Zelos brushed Lloyd off.

"I hate this guy already." Genis muttered. Hana nodded, as Zelos approached Raine.

"And what's your name, beautiful?" he asked.

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine." Raine smirked, taking a leaf out of Lloyd's book, for Hana hadn't said that certain phrase in years.

"Wow...she copied you, Lloyd!" Neviros exclaimed, then quietly added, "But you copied Mama..."

"But now that I've heard someone else say it, it sounds kinda arrogant." Lloyd mused.

"...You just figured that out? ...Idiot..." Hana teased and Lloyd glared at her. Everyone returned their attention to Zelos, who was now approaching Neviros.

"Hello there, gemstone." he grinned at the small girl, the nickname coming from the Exsphere on Neviros' forehead. Hana stepped in between them, and glared at Zelos.

"You stay away from my daughter." she ordered, her voice clear and cold. Zelos looked to Hana and grinned.

"So you're this little gem's mama. I see where she gets her looks from, hot mama." he tried to sweet talk Hana, who only glared at him and slammed her fist into his nose.

"Happily married, so back off before I castrate you!" she shouted and stormed off, the others following.

"That guy is such an ass...he was grinning the whole time, like the idiot he is!" Genis exclaimed and Hana nodded in total agreement. Raine, however, smacked Genis in the back of the head.

"Watch your language! I told you not to pick up on Hana's foul words!"

"What was with that guy?" Neviros asked, still behind Hana. She hadn't liked how Zelos had tried to hit on her mama like that.

"He had an Exsphere." Raine replied.

"So that was how he was able to react to Colette throwing him so easily! Just who is he?" Lloyd asked, and the others headed for Tethe'alla Castle. Apparently, no one had thought to show the guards their letter, so they were denied access to enter. And the King was sick, but no one thought about that either.

"Damn...well, we should wait in the church so we can hear any news about if the King gets any better or not." Lloyd cursed.

"Wow, Lloyd. You actually have a smart idea for once..." Genis grinned, and Lloyd smacked him in the head.

"Not the time, once again..." Neviros sighed, and everyone headed for the church.

Inside, they found a girl with pink hair lugging a large log of wood. She walked up to the priest, who instructed her to bring it inside the castle.

"Presea, you can bring the sacred wood to the castle." he told the girl and she nodded.

"Understood."

"Heyyy...why don't we follow her...!" Neviros exclaimed, and Genis nodded, his face all pink.

"Th-th-that's a great idea!" he managed to exclaim, and everyone, led by Genis, followed Presea out. "Hey! You! Wait up...Umm...Presea!" Genis called out to her, and the taciturn girl turned around.

"Yes?" she asked.

"This is very important...but can we take the sacred wood to the castle as well? I know this is a stupid idea, but it's vital that we get inside the castle..." Lloyd pleaded and Presea nodded.

"Understood." She walked away from the wooden log. "Please carry that." Genis and Lloyd ran up to the log, and tried lifting it, only to have it roll over on Lloyd's toes.

"OWW!" he shouted, and Raine rushed over to heal him.

"First Neviros, then Lloyd...First Aid!" she exasperated, and healed the broken bones. Seeing their difficulty, Presea just walked up to the log and began pulling it by the handle.

"...I've lost all confidence as a man..." Lloyd sighed.

"...Me too." Genis agreed and Hana raised an eyebrow.

"You're not even a man yet, short stuff." she stated and Genis blushed.

"Are you coming?" Presea asked the group and Genis nodded.

"O-o-of course we are!" he burst out and everyone rushed to follow her. Neviros stood behind Genis, chanting,

"Genis looves Presea..." over and over until Hana covered her mouth menacingly and glared.

"Why are there so many people here today?" the first guard asked and Presea paused before answering,

"Today is...special..." The guards looked at each other and shrugged before opening the door.

"Are all the lumberjacks today women and children?" the second one asked and the first one shrugged once again.

"Beats me."

Once inside the castle, Presea left the log in the main hall and joined the others, mainly for convenience.

"Do you know your way around here?" Raine asked Hana, who looked at her as if she had grown an extra head.

"Of course not! I was one of the five seraphim! Why in the hell of the world would I go down to a damn castle! I had more important things to do back then, like torturing Kratos, torturing Yuan, almost getting killed by Yggdrasil, lots of stuff!" she exclaimed, and in turn, received strange stares from everyone.

"You almost got killed by Yggdrasil?" Lloyd asked.

"Apparently, I was too valuable a member or Cruxis to just flat out kill. And it was too hard to kill me anyway." Hana shrugged and phased for a moment. "Can't hit me when I'm like this, though I can't fight back like this anyway..."

"If you used your common sense, we would know for sure that the King's chambers would be in the top floor..." Neviros commented and Hana hugged her proudly.

"See? My Neviros is much smarter than you _boys_." she teased, causing Lloyd to glare at her a little.

"Fine, fine...we don't have any common sense...But let's not start a 'My horse is bigger than your horse' thing, okay?" Genis asked and Hana grinned,

"Well, now that you brought it up..." she trailed off, but headed up the stairs, Neviros clutching the long skirt around her waist.

"Mama, don't go ahead without me!" she exclaimed and Hana smiled at her.

"Of course not."

As everyone headed for the King's chamber, they were blocked by a guard.

"Uh oh..." Lloyd groaned and punched the Guard in the gut. Hana shook her head.

"You're going about it all wrong..." she muttered and phased her hand, bringing it inside the Guard's head. She probed for the most recent memory, and once again, created a new one with her mana. This time, instead of Lloyd's memory of fainting due to fatigue, Hana created a boring memory of nothing happening at all, the Guard just fainting because the armor on him was too hot.

"There. You want the old memory?" Hana asked, handing it to Raine. Raine accepted it with awe, and began to examine the strange cloth-like mana. It was a soft green shade, with streaks of yellow, showing a vibrant and unique personality.

"So this is a memory..." She awed and Hana nodded, shivering slightly.

"I don't like doing that...you find so much about the person you're doing this to...it's horrible..." she groaned and opened the doors.

"C'mon, let's go in." Lloyd urged, feeling as if he had seen this kind of a thing before and headed inside. Shaking the strange feeling off, Lloyd stared at the scene before him. The King was lying in bed, looking terrible, and he seemed to be getting worse by the second.

"How horrible..." Raine gasped, and Hana looked at him.

"Poison from the Maromisa Plant. From the Gaoracchia Forest by the feel of his weak mana...It's the kind that's really hard to get...Only the people with lost of money could even hope to get that poison...and the antidote is even more expensive...it has to be someone rich who did it..." she diagnosed and Rained turned to her.

"How do you know about this? You said yourself that you never came down here." she asked.

"I said I never came to this castle. It didn't mean I never came to Tethe'alla. Besides, the same poison grows in Ronoia. In fact, when Ronoia is in Tethe'alla, it resides in the Gaoracchia Forest." Hana shrugged and Genis tried to string the word together.

"Ma...ro...mi...sa...what does it mean?" Genis asked and Hana grinned brightly.

"Silent Killer. I was actually thinking of naming Neviros that...but other things came up and I changed my mind!" she informed and Genis looked at Neviros.

"I think she should have been named Maromisa..." Lloyd commented and Neviros grinned.

"Oh well!" she exclaimed sheepishly and the group approached the King. Inside, they found the King sitting on his bed, Princess Hilda beside him. On his other side were the Pope and his page. And standing right before the group was,

"You!" Genis exclaimed and Zelos turned to them.

"You know these people?" Princess Hilda asked.

"...I wouldn't go that far..." Zelos replied, and the King stood up.

"Who are you people!" he exclaimed and Lloyd approached. Princess Hilda backed away from Lloyd in fear, but Lloyd just handed the King a letter.

"This is from Sheena of Mizuho." he informed and the King began to read the letter.

"I see...so these are the people from Sylvarant, the declining world..." he stated and Zelos turned to them.

"You're from Sylvarant!" he exclaimed and Hana glared at him.

"What's it to you? You're from Tethe'alla, and by what I can tell, Chosen, you don't seem to care about much at all." she sneered and Zelos gave Hana a weak smile, knowing that flirting wouldn't get him anywhere.

"And then...you know Sheena?" he asked and Raine nodded. The King and Pope then began to converse amongst themselves, wondering about what to do. Finally, the the King declared,

"Due to these events, we shall have you stay in our finest room whilst we figure out what else to do."

The six were led to a crimson chamber, hence the name, as said by one of the maids, Crimson Chamber. (A/N: Or was it Red Room? Correct me if I'm wrong.) Everyone stood around, waiting for the news, Colette and Presea standing in another corner of the room with blank, empty eyes.

"Aunt Hana, you were a part of Cruxis, you should know why Colette's like this!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana glared at him.

"I don't know anything about this. After I left Cruxis, I got rid of practically everything I knew about Cruxis Crystals, and used the memory for some sort of linen or something. It's probably still in my room." she retorted and Lloyd groaned, frustrated.

"Why did you do that?" Genis asked.

"For the same reason that a lot of people got that amnesia shit after a huge trauma. They just don't want to remember." Hana replied and Genis groaned in the same manner as Lloyd.

"But the only thing we can do now, is hope for the best. We have to find out about what The King and Pope want to do with us." Raine replied, intervening from a could-be argument.

"Mama, what are they going to do with us?" Neviros asked and Hana shrugged.

"We can fight our way out of capture anyway." she grinned confidently, though if they were to get captured, Hana would throw Neviros out of the fray, and get her to run off before she was hurt.

Neviros' blue eyes wandered around the room childishly and she spotted Colette and Presea. Lloyd noticed her sad gaze at Colette and walked over to her, hugging his younger cousin.

"They're a lot alike right now, aren't they?" he asked and Neviros nodded abysmally.

"Yeah...but I wonder why Presea is like that too..." Genis commented and a guard came in, followed by the Pope.

"Finally! What took you so long!" Hana exclaimed at him and the Pope glared at her.

"You should hold your tongue against your betters." he hissed and Raine had to restrain Hana from attacking him.

"Why, I oughta castrate him..." she seethed, "Saying he's better than me...I'm a fucking two caste levels higher than this bastard..."

"But he doesn't know that, and it should stay that way." Raine advised and Hana calmed down.

"It doesn't change the fact that I hate him. Fucking arrogant, racist bastard..." she muttered and crossed her arms haughtily.

_'If Yuan were here, he'd be calling me a hothead by now...'_ she added mentally, with a pained smile.

"Anyway, before this wretched peasant snapped at me,"

"I'm not a peasant, and I oughta castrate you, right now!"

"Hana! To him, you're dressed in peasant rags."

"Fine..."

"And again, as I was saying, you travelers from Sylvarant have to be killed. The Chosen of your world is putting our world at stake if she lives." the Pope informed and the guards approached Colette. Neviros winced, knowing just what would happen to those two men before it happened.

The guards went flying.

"We can't even scratch her!" one of the injured guards exclaimed and the Pope groaned.

"Wait!" Lloyd called out and began to try to negotiate. "If we save Colette, then she can't become an angel and save Sylvarant, assuring Tethe'alla's flourish."

"So you would abandon Sylvarant!" Genis exclaimed and Lloyd looked at Colette.

"We came all this way to save Colette, meaning that we already left Sylvarant to decline." Hana replied and Genis sighed.

"But Mama! What about all the people there!" Neviros exclaimed and Hana looked down at her daughter, and held her small hands.

"Why have we come here then? Is it for naught?" she asked and Lloyd grumbled.

"I hate it when you talk like Kratos..." he muttered and Hana gave him a sheepish grin.

"And if we don't leave Tethe'alla, then there is no way we could possibly save Sylvarant." Raine added and the King asked,

"Is there internal discord?"

"Of course not. Now if we don't leave, and save Colette, then we have no choice but to let Sylvarant be abandoned." Lloyd replied indignantly.

"Okay then. We shall agree to let you stay here, as citizens of Tethe'alla, as long as you don't try to leave. Zelos," the King called and Zelos approached him.

"Yes, your highness?" he asked.

"You watch this group, and make sure that they don't do anything funny." the Pope ordered and Hana rolled her eyes.

"These two talk for each other...oh, HOLD ME!"she mocked, and almost had a spear thrown at her, which she easily evaded.

"Hana, you need to act more mature. You're older than I am, yet more childish than Lloyd." Raine reprimanded and Hana laughed.

"Well, we all need a group jester, so I guess that I'll be that person. But if this Zelos person is joining us, then he can take my job, and I'll throw the tomatoes." she grinned and Lloyd sighed. Zelos only stared at Hana, as if she seemed familiar to him.

_'Remember, Hana Lumbari is still alive, and if you meet her, kill her.'_ A voice called in his head and Zelos' eyes widened. _'If this is Hana Lumbari, why is she hanging out with these barbarians?' _he thought and shook his head.

"Okay then. If I'm going to meet you guys, then we might as well meet later on in the day. How about the church?" he asked and Lloyd nodded. Everyone then left the castle after a short rest and headed for the castle.

Inside, Zelos reacquainted himself with all the females in the party.

"So this little angel is Colette, the cool beauty is Raine, the hot mama is Hana, the little gem is Neviros, and who's this new one? I haven't seen her around?" he asked.

"Presea. She helped us sneak into the castle." Genis supplied.

"So the pink one isn't from Sylvarant?" Zelos asked.

"Ozette." Presea answered, the answer taking Zelos aback.

"That village out in the boondoc-" he cut himself off before he could possibly anger anyone. "Oh, that's so sad. You're being used by these uncivilized barbarians." he sighed and Lloyd's eyes narrowed.

"Who're you calling barbarians!" Zelos decided to ignore Lloyd's comment and Genis muttered,

"I hate this guy already."

"You're an obnoxious little brat, you know that? Well, it doesn't matter. Besides, you should be thanking me? I got us entry into the Imperial Research Academy." Zelos smirked and Genis added snidely,

"I would have to assume you would do something useful since you're keeping tabs on us." Zelos only replied with a glare, then he asked,

"Since we're going to be hanging out for a while, why don't we be friends, mmmkay?" Afterwards, the group went out camping in the fields of Tethe'alla.

"Say, Hana? I've heard a lot about you and your past in Cruxis from the others. You seemed to know too much to be just a human...or even a Shade, for that matter." Zelos stated as he approached a nonchalant Hana.

"You care why? You were just the one Chosen for Martel's vessel because you would have the closest mana signature to Martel's. It doesn't matter much. Cruxis has already Chosen Colette as the Chosen for Martel because her mana was a much closer match than yours for Martel, and she was born in the declining world." she shrugged, turning away from the red-head.

_'So this is the woman Lord Yggdrasil told me to kill. She looks much different from the picture he gave me. It's probably really old, since the Hana in this picture has much shorter hair. And she has much thinner hips, too.'_ Zelos thought. Hana felt eyes staring at the back of her head, and she turned to face Zelos.

"You're still here because..." she muttered. Zelos shook of his uneasy feeling. Killing Hana would make Neviros feel just as badly as Zelos did when Mylene died. Faking a grin, Zelos laughed.

"Oh, I'm just observing your curves." he lied and Hana smacked him, believing his untruth. After all, what reason did Zelos give to make them think he was more than a joke?

_With two new companions, the larger party heads for Sybak, where they will drop of Presea and learn more about Cruxis Crystals. After all, with a new goal in mind, what could possibly make their plans go wrong?_

Purest Shadows: Wow...I'm so sorry! Gomen nasai! I didn't update for so long...I only get to play ToS on the weekends, and so I wasn't able to get to Tethe'alla until Sunday...Gomen Nasai!

I love you all, who still put up with my tardiness!


	11. Genetic Data

Purest Shadows: Hello again! Well, anyway, I am happy that I've gotten a new reader. . Reviews make it worth writing the stories. Anyway, I messed up in chapter 10, and said that Hana had purple wings. My bad. They're green. And I'm also going to add something about Hana's memory-turned-linen...or tablecloth...maybe I'll have her get it back. Maybe.

Disclaimer: Yes, I don't own ToS...

Chapter 11: Genetic Data

_As Lloyd and the others come inside Sybak, most of them were amazed at how bustling the city seemed to be. The Imperial Research Academy was right around the corner, and soon, everyone would learn about Colette's status._

"WOW!" Lloyd exclaimed as they entered the city. People walked along, chatting amiably over some sort of new discovery or new subject they had learned as they passed by. As Zelos passed by, many of the girls, however, stopped to stare at the man.

Likewise, many of the men stopped to stare at Raine, and if they how different Hana looked, her as well.

"Raine, you do know that they aren't interested to talk science to you, right?" Hana asked the silver-haired woman next to her. Raine was droning on about the filament effect to a random man who had come up to her and previously asked,

"Hey, how do you think our chemicals would mix?"

Raine looked to Hana and then back to the man, who wasn't paying attention to anything she was saying.

"The only science these men would like to talk about are the uncontrolled hormones they have." Hana muttered and Raine opened her mouth, probably to comment about hormones.

"Don't say it! We don't need another lecture!" Lloyd exclaimed, not understanding what Hana and Raine were talking about.

"Lloyd, you still don't understand." Zelos grinned and Hana glared at him.

"And we all know you know quite well." she retorted and Zelos laughed.

"We should get going! The sooner we do this, the sooner we can get Presea home!" Genis exclaimed. Neviros giggled.

"I would have thought that you would liked to keep Presea around longer." she grinned and Genis blushed.

"...I just wanna go home..." she sighed and Genis turned to her.

"D-don't wo-wor-worry! We'll g-g-ge-get y-y-you ho-ho-h-home s-s-so-soon!" he stuttered and everyone except Presea and Colette laughed.

"Either way, we're going to get all this done. So, let's get going." Raine concluded and everyone headed towards the academy.

Inside, they were met by a scholar who rushed towards Zelos.

"Thank you for letting us research your Cruxis Crystal!" he smiled triumphantly, as if he had just found out some new, break-through information.

"Your welcome. Since you seem to know some more about Cruxis Crystals, can you tell us about them?" Zelos asked and the man led them to his laboratory.

"Well, of course. As it is shown, Cruxis Crystals are an evolved form of Exsphere." the scholar informed and Raine nodded.

"And we know that. But please, explain more." she requested. Maybe some of this new would jog her memory, because apparently, she wouldn't be able to go back home and retrieve her old memory, collecting dust back in Sylvarant.

"In addition to that, all forms of Exspheres are lifeless beings."

"Lifeless beings?" Lloyd exclaimed. Hana looked away and at Lloyd's Exsphere. She winced, taking a deep breath.

"So...you mean to say," another deep, shaky breath, "That these Exspheres are all lifeless?" she asked sadly. She knew that much, but the term was so vague to her...

"To put it simply, Exspheres live, but not the way we do. They need other living organisms to live." Raine informed.

"I feel so awful for them...But if not for us, then these Exspheres wouldn't be alone?" Neviros asked quietly. Her Exsphere had the lives of so many animals in them...she could feel them coursing through her body, allowing her to hear the voices of the animals. But the Exspheres were still alone...

"They wouldn't be. But after they take in a new soul, they become lonely once more..." Raine informed and Neviros' hand flew up to the green crystal on her head. The animals were always alone, separate in their own little world in the Exsphere.

"It's okay, kid." Hana smiled at the small girl and Neviros hugged her tightly. "But tell us, what do these Exspheres do?" she asked.

"Cruxis Crystals can promote some sort of fusion with the host if it lacks a Key Crest, causing subdued emotions, an inability to feel, and in most cases a strengthened body." the scholar informed and Genis looked to Presea.

"Do you think..." he asked and Lloyd shrugged.

"I don't know. I can't tell if her Exsphere is one or not." and Genis nodded.

"But if the said is true, then why has Colette's fusion taken place so quickly?...I mean...I knew someone with a Cruxis Crystal...her fusion with the Cruxis Crystal..." Hana winced s the words escaped her lips, and she sighed angrily. "It took years for the fusion to even come close to the state Colette was in...and she was nothing like that."

"I suppose that whenever Colette released a seal, she promoted the fusion with the crystal." Raine replied and Hana nodded.

"That would explain it." she agreed and her eyes trailed over to Colette and Presea. _'If this Presea girl is like how Colette is, and she is so young, then either, she is like Yuan, Kratos and I, or she has had that crystal on since she was even younger.'_ Hana thought and then shook her head. She could just have been traumatized, that's all, right?

It would hurt too much to see another person suffering like how so many others had before.

"Is there any way to reverse the effects?" Lloyd asked and the scholar nodded.

"You can make a Key Crest for her." he informed and Lloyd nodded.

"I'm going to make one then. But we have to look for something that can be used to make a Key Crest." he stated and walked out, the others following.

They found a Key Crest by a shop owner, who was selling it for an outrageous price!

"...I wonder who owns this shop." Zelos muttered. "I can have this run down shack closed, this instant!" he exclaimed and the peddler glared at him.

"And who are you to close down this shop?" he demanded and Zelos grinned.

"I'm the Chosen, now you either you lower the price of that piece of junk, or _I_ close down this place." he smirked and the peddler shook his head, grabbing the glowing stone and thrusting it into Zelos' chest.

"I apologize! Here, take it!" he bowed apologetically and Zelos grinned.

"Okay!" he then handed the inhibitor ore to Lloyd, who accepted it.

"So I'll go make the charm out of this...Let's go back to the lab so I can have a room to make it in." he requested and everyone headed back to the academy.

"For the sake of the two worlds, we just keep going around in circles, over, and over, and over..." Hana groaned. Genis began to giggle like a little kid (which he was) and pointed to her.

"You're sounding like Lloyd." Hana only motioned to the other three fingers Genis had pointing back at him.

"When you point at someone, only one finger is pointing at them. The other three (excluding the thumb) are pointing back at you." she replied, and Genis blushed. "Common sense, child."

Neviros giggled and poked Genis' nose.

"You don't have any common sense!" she laughed and pointed to herself, so her other three fingers were pointing to Genis.

"Why is it that men are so useless?" Raine asked and Hana laughed.

"Because it's a woman's world."she replied and Zelos groaned.

"So I don't make the men better?" Hana and Raine looked to each other then replied simultaneously,

"Not even close."

By the time their conversation was over, Lloyd had already gone inside a room to make Colette's Key Crest.

"Do you think this will work?" Genis asked, looking to Colette.

"Maybe so, maybe not. Her Exsphere is a Cruxis Crystal...I don't even have a Key Crest, and Neviros' is made out of a strange material." Hana replied, staring that the Aionis-made Key Crest her daughter had.

"You don't have a normal Key Crest?" a scholar asked Neviros, approaching her. Neviros backed away, hiding behind Hana, staying within the folds of her skirt.

"Mama, they scare me." Neviros whispered to Hana and she patted the child's head comfortingly.

"You'll be fine." Hana grinned and looked to the scholar.

"What is different about her Key Crest?" she asked Hana and she stared at it.

"I have no idea." she lied, "I just know that it's not made out of inhibitor ore."

"We can do some tests to see what material it is." the scholar suggested and Hana shook her head.

"You leave my daughter alone." and Lloyd entered the room with the Key Crest, attached to a necklace for Colette. He slowly approached her, his eyes downcast.

"I know it's a little late, but here's your necklace." he mumbled and wrapped it around Colette's neck, hoping for some sort of reaction. There was none. Lloyd closed his eyes and turned away, praying that something would change. Still, there was no reaction. Everyone looked away from Colette, feeling downcast.

"Colette, can you hear me?" Lloyd finally asked, to no avail. "It's no use..."

"Would it be possible to ask Dirk for help?" Raine suggested.

"...But isn't Dirk in Sylvarant?" Neviros asked.

"And the Rheairds are out of fuel as well." Hana added.

"Maybe the people at the academy know of a way." Lloyd suggested and Zelos shook his head, waving them as if to say, 'NO NO NO!'

"Wait a moment! You guys aren't supposed to go back to Sylvarant!" he protested.

"Then you come with us, oh compassionate Chosen One." Lloyd grinned.

"You're kind go girls, so you will come to save Colette, right?" Genis suggested.

"Great, how can I say no after that?" Zelos groaned and two Papal Knights appeared out of nowhere.

"We have heard what you just said. You and your companions are hereby declared traitors, and plotting against Tethe'alla." the first one declared and Zelos glared at them.

"That was perfect timing, Mr. Papal Knight."

"We have been ordered by the Pope to keep tabs on you in case you start plotting against the throne."

"That's amusing. _I'm_ plotting against the throne?"

"Shut up. Now restrain them and take a sample. Don't touch the angel. If you approach her carelessly, she''ll kill you." the head papal knight ordered and Lloyd looked from Colette to Hana, then back.

"Which one?" he asked, and Hana smacked him.

"Genis usually makes jokes at this time, and you usually say this, but this isn't the time!" she exclaimed and the Papal Knights grabbed everyone, but Colette. They poked a sort of needle into everyone's arms.

"Ow! What are you doing!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Criminals undergo a biological test. It's to check for Half-Elves, and in some rare cases, Shades. It's because of the caste system here." Zelos explained, he being the only one not poked with the needle. "Some half-elves don't look any different from humans, and some Shades can make themselves look like elves. It's necessary to detect them."

Suddenly, four of the Papal Knights shot up their heads. One of them called out,

"S..s...sir! We have a match! For both Half-Elves, and Shades!" The Papal Leader looked to Raine, Genis, Hana, and Neviros.

"Genis! Professor!" Lloyd exclaimed. He had no need to hear about Hana and Neviros' races, he knew they both had Shade blood, and Neviros had Half-Elven blood as well. But Raine and Genis!

"That's right." Raine admitted.

"Raine!" Genis cried out desperately.

"It's okay. There's no use in hiding it anymore." Raine smiled at Genis.

"These Half-Elves and Shades have shamelessly engaged in caste deception!" another Papal Knight called out.

"WHAT!" Lloyd exploded, "Who cares about their race! All four of them are better much better people than you! Who cares if they're Half-Elves or Shades!"

"Lloyd, I don't know what it's like in Sylvarant, but Half-Elves are at the bottom of the caste system, and Shades don't even fit on there. And if the little gem is both a Half-Elf and a Shade, she's even worse off than that." Zelos sighed.

"All those of Half-Elven and Shade blood are executed of any crime committed, no exceptions."

"That's outrageous!" Lloyd roared, but Raine, Genis, Neviros, and Hana were all taken away.

"Mama, why don't you phase?" Neviros asked Hana quietly.

"Because if I do, I won't be able to take you, or Raine and Genis with me." Hana whispered back, and all four were taken away.

"We have a change in plans. Because all four of them can use magic, we have to keep them under heavy guard. And because the Shades can phase, we'll have to keep even more Knights keeping tabs in them. Lock the humans in the basement." the Papal Leader ordered and Lloyd and the others were shoved into a basement.

"Who's there?" a feminine voice called out.

"Don't speak to us, Half-Elf. Just get back to your work. These are criminals, so keep them here until we get back." the Papal Leader ordered. The, apparently Half-Elven woman, glared at them.

"Criminals," she muttered under her breath. "If you had the good fortune of being born human, why did you throw it away?" she demanded.

"We didn't do anything wrong!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"You tried to go back to Sylvarant." Zelos quipped.

"...Shut up." Lloyd glared at Zelos, and the woman approached. Presea suddenly ran away, and mumbled,

"Ah...get away..."

"Presea! You're Presea! Why are you here!" the woman exclaimed and Zelos raised an eyebrow.

"How do you, a Half-Elf, know a human girl?" he asked.

"She is my team's research sample..."

"Research, what kind?" Lloyd asked.

"It was to manufacture a Cruxis Crystal in a human body. By allowing them to feed on the human..." the woman admitted. Lloyd winced. Anna had undergone the same thing.

"You're lucky Aunt Hana isn't here...she'd have attacked you by now. That's the same thing the Desians did! How can you do that! How can you treat a human life like that!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"I could ask you the same question. How can you treat Half-Elves the way you do?" the woman replied.

"I treat them the same as everyone else! Humans, Half-Elves, and Shades are all equal!" Lloyd exclaimed.

_'He isn't from here.'_ a voice called out, and Corinne appeared in a puff of smoke, breaking Lloyd's bonds. Sheena appeared in the same manner.

"He's a strange one, born from Sylvarant. He was raised by a Dwarf and his Shade Aunt, and grew up with Half-Elves, and a Half-Elven-Shade for a cousin." she informed.

"Sheena! How did you know we..." Lloyd faltered.

"I'll explain later." Sheena cut him off, while unbinding Zelos. "The others are being taken to Meltokio! If we can make it across the bridge, we can save them!" she exclaimed.

"Are you planning on running away?" the woman asked.

"He's going to save his multi-cultural family and friends. What are you going to do, Miss Half-Elf?" Zelos asked.

"...I don't believe you." the woman crossed her arms.

"But Kate, I did hear that they arrested some Half-Elves and Shades upstairs." Kate's assistant replied.

"Fine then. If you won't let us go, we'll fight our way out!" Lloyd exclaimed and Kate nodded.

"Okay then. You can go. But you have to promise that when you've saved everyone, you'll come back. If you do...I'll release Presea from her experiment." she agreed and led them to a secret way out. Everyone ran out, and towards the Tethe'alla Grand Bridge.

"We're coming to get you guys, just hang on!" Lloyd called out.

_Lloyd and co. ran on, their legs racing them as fast as they could to the Raine and Genis, the newly discovered Half-Elves; Hana, the Shade; and Neviros, the one caught in between both. Would they make it in time to save them all?_

Purest Shadows: Once again, another short chapter. Well, if you haven't read my profile yet, I'm letting you know, after I finish this series, I'm going to add a ton of ficlets to it, because I'm actually proud of my additonal idea to the story. Haha. Anyway, later! I love you all!


	12. Running Along the Bridge

Purest Shadows: Once again, hello there. I lent my ToS game to my best friend, so until she beats it, I'm got gonna be able to post any new chapters...Wahh! But anyway, because I'm here, and typing this up, I'll just make this a flashback chapter for Lloyd about the currently captured four. And work on what I remember...wahh...T.T. And now that I'm here, I've seen that they've added Yuan as a character on the list...so I'm going to put this one in that category next capter, because I'm too lazy to change it now.

Disclaimer: Geez...I don't own ToS. I mean, I have to put this up for every chapter, and I don't even know if I put one for the last two chapters. Oh well. I'll know when I go over them again.

Chapter 12: Running Along the Bridge

_Lloyd's legs pumped even harder, hoping to make it across in time. Surely he would be able to make it, wouldn't he? Thoughts flashed through his mind, as if his subconscious was telling him that this would be their last days. Of course they wouldn't be, right? Right?_

Lloyd's eyes closed as memories began to resurface in the back of his mind.

Flashback

_Lloyd sat patiently outside of Hana's bedroom, swinging his legs along the chair. He could hear the pained ,moans and the breaking of random objects within the room. He wondered why Dirk wouldn't let him inside. Lloyd wanted to know what was going on, too._

_Lloyd had noticed over the past few months the growth in Hana's abdomen. It got increasingly larger with each passing week, and soon it became so large, that Lloyd's female caretaker had much difficulty from rising out of bed and going down the stairs. She had been confined to the likes of her room for the past few days, after a large splotch of water had been found where she was standing._

"_Hana, don't phase!" Dirk shouted from within the room and Hana roared,_

"_It fucking hurts! I can't control it that well when I'm in pain! It's fucking instinct!"_

_Lloyd knocked on the door and called out,_

"_Dad, what's going on? Why is Hana in pain?" Dirk shot his head out of the door and smiled gently at Lloyd._

"_I'll explain it to you later." suddenly, there was a clatter of broken ceramics and Dirk rushed back inside. "Don't thrash so much!"_

"_It HURTS!"_

"_It's your fault that it hurts!"_

"_And you're saying that this is a bad thing!"_

_Lloyd sighed and sat back on his chair. What was going on that made Hana, of all people start crying out in pain? Hana had a very high tolerance for pain,so this was odd...  
_

_Suddenly, Raine rushed into the house, carrying three-year-old Genis in her arms._

"_Lloyd, watch Genis for me. Hold on, I'm coming!" Raine shouted, handing Genis to Lloyd and rushing into Hana's room._

"_Lloyd, Hana is okay, right?" Genis asked innocently and Lloyd shrugged._

"_I don't know. She sounds like she's in pain..." he replied._

"_That bump on Hana's stomach has been getting bigger...maybe they're removing it!" Genis exclaimed, and Lloyd suddenly felt queasy._

"_Removing a bump that big! Why didn't they do it before?" he asked._

"_Maybe because it wasn't time. Raine kept saying that...as she ran here...Like it was too early, or something like that." Genis theorized and Lloyd shrugged once again._

"_Hana! Hold still! This is going to be over soon!" Raine pleaded._

"_You talk as if you're my mother!" Hana shouted at her angrily and another moan of pain could be heard._

"_For the sake of Martel," Raine sighed, and an angry shout could be heard throughout the whole Iselia Forest._

"_DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT MARTEL!"_

"_Touchy subject?" Raine asked innocently and Hana seethed,_

"_Just don't talk to me about her, when I'm having his baby."_

"_Whose?"_

"_Never mind."_

_Another agonized groan rang through the house and Dirk asked,_

"_How much longer? I don't need any more broken furniture."_

"_She's dilated ten centimeters...I'd say pretty soon." Raine informed._

_Lloyd looked confused._

"_Dilated?" he asked Genis. The tiny boy shrugged and they continued to listen to the conversation._

"_Okay, are you ready to go?" Raine asked Hana._

"_How on Sylvarant could I be ready! I'm doing this and he's not here! Not like he could be, but whatever." the older woman retorted, a comment which Raine and Dirk both ignored._

"_Well you've got to be ready, because the crown is starting to show." Raine informed and Hana moaned in pain, and with a bit of annoyance._

"_You're fourteen, and you're delivering my baby...how in the world does this make sense!" she asked._

"_It makes sense because she's the smartest person in Iselia!" Dirk exclaimed and Raine protested,_

"_Not so much. I just know what to do."_

"_Augh! How on Sylvarant will I be able to do this!"_

"_Just do it!"_

"_Fine...Oww!"_

"_Now push!"_

"_Now?"_

"_Yes now!"_

"_Okay then...I'm pushing, I'm pushing..."_

"_Not me! You're pushing the baby out!"_

"_Okay, okay! Oww!" _

"_Oh...Hana is having a baby..." Genis concluded and Lloyd looked confused._

"_How can she have a baby? Hana doesn't have a boyfriend, or a husband...Ohhh..." Lloyd uttered, understanding. He had to have some common sense or Hana wouldn't teach him how to use his wooden swords. Though she taught him how to use them like twin whips, so it was slightly harder for him anyway._

"_Do you understand?" Genis asked. Lloyd nodded._

"_Hana got married a while ago, but her husband died on their way back to Iselia. I guess that she was already pregnant." Lloyd assumed and Genis grinned._

"_You're not as stupid as I thought you were.."_

"_Ahhwahhh!" came the loud cry from within Hana's room. The heavy padding of Dwarven footsteps nearing the door, and Dirk smiled at the group._

"_You two can come in." he invited and Lloyd and Genis waddled into the room. Inside, they saw Hana lying on a bed, looking quite exhausted, but she was smiling quite happily. Raine was next to her, examining a new creature that Lloyd had never seen enter the room before._

"_She's just fine...But Hana...is she a..." Raine paused, staring at the baby girl's pointed ears, but sensing the human mana within her._

"_Half-Elf? Her papa was a Half-Elf..." Hana looked down and Raine handed the girl to her._

"_What are you going to name her?" Dirk asked. Hana's lips pulled into a soft, grim, expression._

"_Neviros." she informed, as if she had been considering the name for quite some time. _

"_Neviros?" Lloyd asked, as if testing the name. Hana nodded._

"_Yeah. After the Summon Spirit of the skies." she grinned and Lloyd looked confused._

"_You mean that recently discovered Summon?" Lloyd asked and Hana nodded, then shook her head._

"_Neviros-Tanalis was already well known to a certain group of people." she informed, and though no one but Dirk knew at the time, she was referring to her own native race, the Shades._

"_Really?" Raine asked. Hana nodded._

"_...I knew someone who knew quite a bit about summoning, and I also have had some firsthand experience myself." she informed. Lloyd grinned brightly, darting his eyes from Hana to Neviros, to everyone else. He decided to rest them on Neviros._

"_She doesn't look like you...she has blue hair." he stated childishly, and Hana nodded._

"_So did her papa." she acknowledged. "But Neviros has my eyes." she added, grinning._

"_They're purple?" Lloyd asked and Hana nodded. "I wanna see!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana showed Lloyd the little girl. Neviros gently opened her eyes, revealing sparkling purple orbs. "They do look like your eyes!" Lloyd exclaimed and Hana smiled._

"_Yeah. I hope she grows to be nothing like you, since you are her only example." she teased. Neviros shifted around, and even though she was supposed to be too young to move, her Shade side, though only not very noticeably awakened, was already strengthening her. Neviros' tiny hand moved to rest on Genis' nose, and the young toddler blushed._

"_Aww, she likes you!" Raine cooed and Genis blushed even more._

"_At least, if she likes him, she'll try to be like him. Better annoyingly smart and bratty than stupid and brash!" Hana teased Lloyd again, causing the young boy to fume._

"_Hana!"_

_End Flashback_

Lloyd and the others continued to race along the bridge, Lloyd hearing the beating of his heart become louder and stronger with each step he took.

"We're coming to get you!" he shouted, and soon he reached the end.

But it seemed to be too late. The drawbridge was raising up, and both parties on both sides of the bridge could tell that there was going to almost no chance of making it.

"We have to keep going!" Lloyd exclaimed and Zelos grabbed his arm.

"Hey, hey. No. We are not jumping that. We. Will. Die." he protested.

"But we have to go! If we don't go, the Professor, Genis, Hana, and Neviros will die! You can't let children, a guardian, and a _mother_ die!" Sheena shouted, using the mother part to get to Zelos. Zelos groaned and they ran on.

"We're not going to make it!" Lloyd shouted, but ran up the ledge, the others following. Eve as Presea warned, in her monotonous voice,

"_Chance of survival, 15.73._" as Lloyd jumped over the ledge, he saw Colette fly over the gap. Then he looked down, and saw Sheena raise her arms out and call,

"Undine, help!" Undine appeared at the last moment, and used the water to propel the group up, and land them on the ground safely.

Beforehand, Hana had seen the others racing towards the bridge, and she realized that they wouldn't make it either. So she phased, taking Neviros, Genis, then the Professor with her. The binds on their hands were phased off, and Hana assumed a fighting stance, releasing her wings, just to scare the knights a little.

"Now why didn't I think of this before?" she asked herself. "Oh yeah, way too many people watching. These knights are gonna die _right now_." Hana smirked and the three former captives behind her assumed a fighting stance as well.

Just as the four were about to fight, the others descended and rushed in to kill the Papal Knights. They finished the job much more cleanly than the others would have, so it was no big dead. (A/N: Imagine. Clean blows from swords, an ax, and some spell cards. Then imagine bashing from a ball on a string on a stick, a staff, some sharp metal spikes from a slingshot, then some burning and freezing from whips. Which one sounds cleaner to you?)

"You guys are alright!" Lloyd exclaimed, rushing to greet his friends. Hana put away her wings, and grinned at them.

"Thanks. You saved us some mana to waste." she thanked and Zelos pouted.

"We saved you guys, and all you can say is thanks for saving you the mana!"

"Well...we are already free...and we were going to take on the Papal Knights ourselves, but you showed up, and saved us the work!" Genis exclaimed brightly and Zelos scowled.

"But anyway, will you be okay with this? Us being Half-Elves?" Raine asked quietly. Lloyd walked up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm okay with Neviros, and she's part Shade. If I wasn't okay with you and Genis for being Half-Elves, then I'd be a pretty messed up guy." he grinned, then turned to the others. "Are you all okay with this?"

"I knew about Hana and Neviros before we got here, so I have no problem with any of this. Besides, I'm from Mizuho. We're not exactly mainstream either."

"And you, Presea?" Neviros asked Presea.

"I...I just wanna go home..."

"And how about you?" Genis asked Zelos. He looked down, but shrugged.

"...Well, I can't say I'm too kosher with this. But what right do I have? People say I'm descent from angels, so they treat me differently too. We're not all that different." he smiled uncomfortably, and Lloyd smiled at him.

"That's fine with us."

"But...how did Sheena get here?" Genis asked and Sheena smiled sheepishly.

"The Vice-Chief of my village told me to stay here, and keep tabs on you guys." she answered.

"That's typical. Mizuho is trying to decide whether they should side with the King, or you guys." Zelos supplied and Neviros groaned,

"So now there are two people keeping tabs on us!" Sheena shook her head, as if trying to prove her innocence.

"But you know that I'm on your side!" she protested.

"Relax, Sheena. We all know that you're not our enemy. You're a bit honest, if not to a fault." Raine smiled and Sheena nodded.

"Well, from where we are now, I'm okay with anything." Lloyd grinned, causing the non-human side of the group to smile warmly at him.

"Where do we go now? We're wanted everywhere." Neviros asked quietly. She looked at the far off Meltokio, then to the bodies of the Papal Knights. Fights back in Sylvarant never resulted in the deaths of living people. Back there, all the other people they encountered were usually just knocked out. Never killed. Never. And Neviros was scared.

"We should go get Sheena from a pact with Volt so we can get those Rheairds working!" Lloyd exclaimed, going over to pat Neviros on the head. Sheena took a step back in horror.

"VOLT!" she screamed, half-stricken.

Surprisingly, Presea was the first to speak.

"...Sheena?" she asked a bit hesitantly and Sheena shook her head.

"It's nothing."

"At any rate, we should go get the Rheairds first? Volt's temple is on the other side of the Grand Tethe'alla Bridge. It would be faster to pick up the Rheairds, since they've closed off the bridge." Zelos quipped.

"How are you going to pick those things up!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Don't worry! I had a secret weapon prepared just in case something like this happened." Zelos laughed.

"What secret weapon?" Genis asked.

"It wouldn't be any fun if I spoiled the surprise! Now let's go!" Zelos grinned. Hana only crossed her arms and turned away.

"I'm not going to have any part in this." she declared.

"Not this again," Lloyd groaned, "Aunt Hana, we're not _stealing _his stuff. We're just borrowing it."

"So? You weren't the one who...never mind..." Hana blushed, remembering another memory that wasn't PG-13.

"...I don't want to know." Sheena retorted, but was cut off by Zelos,

"I do!" at that remark, Sheena slapped Zelos, and stalked off.

"Where are you going?" Raine asked.

"To the Fooji Mountains. We're going to have to get those damn Rheairds." Sheena fumed and stomped away, the others rushing to catch up.

"Why are we climbing that monstrosity again?" Genis asked, hanging his head.

_Zelos laughed as he raced to keep up with an angry Sheena. What was Zelos' secret weapon? Did he even have a secret weapon! It didn't matter much, Lloyd thought. They'd all just have to trust Zelos on this one, as strange as i seemed._

Purest Shadows: You know, I've always wondered whether or not Zelos actually had those secret weapons, or if they were all just code for 'Capturing by Renegades' or 'Capturing by Cruxis'. Oh well.

Once again, I love you all! Thanks for putting up with me.


	13. Who You Used to be, And Who You are Now

Purest Shadows: Hey again! I've been so late, but I finally got my ToS game back! So now, I can continue writing! Yippie! Anywhoo...I don't think I'll be skipping around anymore, but I am considering a Shades Three, based upon Disc Two...or maybe based on a whole aftermath, I donno. I'll figure something out! Okay, this chappie will include stuff about Anna, and hints of Kratos. You know, because Lloyd saw Mithos' memory when he possessed him, I think he should be able to see Anna's, because her soul is in his Exsphere. (The title of this chapter refers to both Hana and Colette...just to let you know)

It's also taken me a while to get this posted because my internet was down...and I've been having a few health problems. As of 6/29/06, I've been nearly diagnosed with either asthma, anemia, and possibly diabetes. It's either one of the three, but oh well! It's probably not that bad...and I'm getting a blood draw tomorrow...and an inhaler...(That's 6/30/06)

Disclaimer: Yes, yes...I know...I don't own ToS...just Hana, Neviros-Analis and Neviros-Tanalis (But not the name Neviros itself) , the Shades, and Ronoia. And how to get there! But either way...that's not really worth much...

Chapter Thirteen: Who You Used to Be, and Who You Are Now

_Finally, after avoiding the Papal Knights trooping to find them, everyone had finally made it to the Fooji Mountains. It was so high, and littered with monsters. Apparently, the work of Cruxis, to possibly harm Colette. As they made their way up the top of the monstrosity, they were met but two opposing, and joining forces._

"So...what kind of a plan do you have?" Lloyd asked curiously. The party was near the middle of the summit, and Lloyd was getting impatient.

"Oh c'mon! That would completely ruin the surprise!" Zelos exclaimed. To none but the trained eye, no one was able to tell that the wide, perverted grin on the Chosen's face was all too wide, and and the mischievous glint in his eyes were all too malignant.

Hana had a trained eye, but that certain eye was being covered by Neviros' hands.

"Neviros! When I said that I'd carry you on my shoulders, I didn't say that you could cover my eyes!" Hana shouted hotly, as she tripped, falling flat on her face. Neviros, who was a bit too crafty for someone of her age, jumped away, and watched in glee as Hana phased into Sheena, accidentally possessing her for a moment.

"Well...umm...For the love of the clouds!" Hana cursed as she exorcised herself from Sheena's body. "Neviros, you troublesome little brat!" Hana roared at her deviant daughter.

Neviros giggled, and turned into a fire bird and flew off.

"Umm...Why does it seem like Neviros is becoming more and more out of hand the more she turns into those animals?" Sheena asked, a bit shaken by the sudden possession.

And it was true. Neviros was becoming more and more out of control, her body doing things that her mind would normally have disagreed with. Such as forcing her own mother to possess someone.

"I don't know...she's turning into an animal...and it scares me." Hana whispered, looking down. "And what if...what if she becomes like the demons here? Many of the animals here were turned into these...these creatures because they were deprived of mana... Natural animals need much more mana than those creatures..."

"So that's why the animals here turned into those monsters?" Genis asked.

"I would have to experiment on some of these monsters, then on some of the monsters out in the fields!" Raine burst out, but stopped at the loud screech emitted by Neviros-fire bird.

"This isn't the time!" Lloyd exclaimed, and he looked to Colette. "I'm so sorry that the Key Crest didn't work..." he pleaded to Colette's unmoved form. Neviros-fire bird perched on Lloyd's shoulder, then turned back into herself.

"Don't say that! Colette stopped having her violent reactions..." she replied, having firsthand experience of this herself. "Remember when Zelos approached her on our way here? She didn't throw him away, just...moved away herself." Neviros sighed sadly.

It was during times like these that Neviros would act like her usual schizophrenic self. One moment uncontrollably bouncy, the next, solemn and a bit too sad for her age. But the sadness had only come when Neviros attained her Animus Crystal. Why?

"It's okay...but Neviros...please stop doing such reckless things...it will hurt someone." Hana pleaded and Neviros looked to her.

A striking headache began to vibrate through Neviros' skull, and she clutched her head. The animals were fighting to control Neviros again, wanting her to get her point through.

"Mama...the animals...they say...they say that they want you to become who you were...before...again..." she whimpered through the pain, and Hana backed away, remembering the sniveling child who had cried for the animals she had to harm before. Forty-five years ago...that child was so different...

Hana stopped walking, and sat down, her body recoiling into a fetal position, crouching into the side of the mountain. The others turned to her, and Lloyd asked,

"Aunt Hana? What's wrong?" Hana looked up at him, her hair covering her tearful eyes. A sort of image flashed into Lloyd's head, a memory that wasn't his own.

_Fifteen Years Ago_

"_Please...Hana, don't cry..." Anna comforted Hana, as she cried in a corner. Hana was crouched into a fetal position in a corner, and bawling loudly._

"_But you're...you're dying!" Hana protested. "And...I wasn't able to save you...I betrayed you!" the Shade woman banged her fists against the ground repeatedly until they began to bleed, and even then, not stopping._

"_So? You're going to take care of Lloyd." Anna replied. Anna lied in a bed next to Hana, and shakily sat up. She was weak, the wound in her back created by the Flamberge. Hana specialized in fire and ice magic, but she was more skilled in ice, her body finely attuned to the cold. She was unable to counteract the fire magic in the wound, and therefore, unable to heal it._

"_He needs a father...and we don't know where he is right now." Hana protested. "he should fucking be here!" Hana shouted, crying even more._

"_Hana...you know he can't. He probably thinks we're dead...and you can't go find him...Cruxis is looking for your body, and if they see you alive, they'll kill you." Anna and Hana were silent for a moment, before Anna called out softly, "Dirk, please come here."_

_Dirk walked over to the Irving-Aurion sisters and asked,_

"_Yes?"_

"_I'm going to die soon...so could you act as Lloyd's father? I know Hana won't act as his mother...but she will stay to help raise him..." Anna requested. Dirk nodded, but Hana looked up and protested,_

"_No. You're not going to die!" Hana shouted._

"_But you can't heal me any more than you already have. Ice healing won't work, and you haven't mastered fire healing. I'm going to die, and you are going to help raise Lloyd." Anna declared, a sharp look in her eyes._

"_I couldn't! I'm...I'm too weak..." Hana whispered, and Anna moved over to Hana. As weak as she was, Anna pulled Hana's head to face her, and slapped her as hard as she could. _

_With trembling fingers, Hana brought her hand to lightly touch the stinging red cheek. It remained there until her cold hand turned it into a dull tingle. _

"_You aren't weak." Anna retorted._

"_Yes I am! I'm a weak person. I promised that I'd keep you safe, remember!"_

"_But you already broke that promise...so why do you insist on continuing to keep it?" Anna asked and Hana shook her head, covering her ears, only to get slapped by Anna again, harder. This time, Hana remained frozen, unable to comprehend Anna's words._

"_...Because I'm your sister...I want to do this..." Hana cried._

"_At your own expense! Yuan doesn't want this for you, and neither do I!" Anna shouted weakly, her hands falling limp. Anna's body began to tremble, not out of anger, but because she knew that she wouldn't last._

_Both Hana and Dirk noted this as well, and Hana only crouched into the corner of Dirk's mountainside home even more._

"_Don't die Anna..." Hana sobbed. "I'm too weak to take care of Lloyd...I'm too weak..." she hugged her knees tighter. Anna knew that this wasn't true. Hana was strong, but she often doubted her strength. She hoped that this would cause Hana to stop doubting herself, as the words,_

"_Then get stronger, if you're so weak." escaped her lips. Hana looked up at Anna, apparently taking the words to heart. _

"_Okay then..." Hana mumbled, shakily standing. Anna continued to tremble more, her body undergoing painful convulsions._

"_Let me...Let me see Lloyd." Anna requested, and Hana rushed over to Lloyd, who was sitting at a table, drawing a picture of a man with spiky red hair and blue wings, a woman with brown hair and a reddish dress, and another woman with purple hair and green wings. _

"_Mama wants to see you..." Hana softly urged and Lloyd looked up to Hana._

"_Auntie Hana...is Mommy okay? I want to show her the picture I drew!" Lloyd smiled, and Hana nearly cried at Lloyd's bright smile, taking him to Anna. "Mommy, look at the drawing I drew for you!" Lloyd proclaimed and handed Anna the picture._

_Anna stared at it for a moment, and smiled._

"_He got our Papa's artistic ability..." she smiled at Hana and Lloyd grinned._

"_Yay!"_

"_Now Lloyd..." Anna began, "I want you to never forget that I love you so much...and that I'll always be with you." Lloyd looked confused, and asked,_

"_Mommy, are you going somewhere?" _

"_In a sense..." Hana replied, and Anna brought her hand to caress Lloyd's cheek, before falling limp. Lloyd backed away, and began to cry loudly. He understood death better than Hana did at this age, and Dirk comforted Lloyd sadly._

"_You'll be fine."_

_Present_

Lloyd shook his head, wondering why such a scene was played through his head. Could Lloyd have seen one of Anna's memories? And of all her memories, why this one?

"Mama..." Neviros whimpered, still feeling the pain of her headache. The animals kept telling her that Hana was not being true to herself. She was hiding who she used to be, through a facade of anger and violence. The Hana who existed before Anna died, was not this woman.

"_How do you know about my mama?" _Neviros asked, and another animal, a basilisk, replied,

"_Her ssssstory isss not uncommon amongsssst ussss animalsss. She cried assss she protected her family from attacking animalssss, driven by a lack of mana. Your mother issss hiding her true ssself." _

"Mama...you...you were different before..." Neviros declared, and Hana looked at her, tears dripping down her face.

"Neviros..." Hana sobbed, and she hugged Neviros tightly. "How can I go back to being who I was? That was such a long time ago...I mean...it was so long ago..." Hana shivered and Lloyd's eyes widened. So he had seen a memory! Anna's memory...

"Mom...she didn't want you to be like this...she wanted you to be like how you were..." he protested.

"Anna wanted that?...She was the one who told me to become stronger..." Hana murmured, but Lloyd shook his head.

"...I saw her memory of the day she died... She was only saying that so you would acknowledge your own strength. She thought that you were already strong enough...and that you would protest to her words...but you didn't...you just let them affect you..." Lloyd shook his head.

"O...okay..." Hana stood again, using the rocks to support herself. "If Anna, Neviros, and you want it,"

"So do the animals!" Neviros piped up.

"Okay, them too...I'll try to be more like how I was." Hana nodded, giving her trademark half-smile. Soon, everyone was all right, and the previous happening was forgotten.

"But...Lloyd...does that mean that you remember how Anna died?" Hana asked. Lloyd nodded.

"I've known for a long time...I've just never seen it from Mom's point of view." he informed. "So you knew my dad?"

"Yeah...I know him." Hana looked down, and Lloyd looked confused.

"Know him? He's still alive!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Umm...I can't tell you more...it's not my right to say so." the words shout out of Hana's mouth, that certain phrase being the one that she used to say as a young girl when she had to keep secrets. Already, she was acting like her old self...

Lloyd decided to give up at that point, and shook his head.

Soon after, they reached the mountain peak, and Zelos walked over to the Rheairds, the others following. As they walked on, a cage surrounded everyone but Colette, who stood on the barriers, unable to do anything.

"You fools! You walked right into my trap!" Yuan declared, and Lloyd turned to Zelos.

"He just called you a fool." he snickered, and Presea commented,

"Zelos...is clumsy..."

"Gah...I'm so sad now." Zelos groaned, in half-fake sadness.

"Hi Yuan." Hana greeted with a bright smile, taking Yuan aback. He had noticed the change in her after Anna died-Hana never smiled like that after Anna died, but now she was. Quite sincerely too.

"Hana...are you okay?" Yuan asked. Hana stared at him with happy eyes, despite her situation. This was the old Hana, the one he had fallen in love with. The Hana who smiled and laughed at the face of danger, jeering good humor at it.

"I'm fine! Why...you don't recognize me?" Hana asked, her eyes twinkling. Everyone stared at Hana, the sudden change in her rather uplifting, until Pronyma appeared. Pronyma's eyes narrowed at Hana. She never liked the Shade woman, and how easily she attained such high rankings amongst the Seraphims. It was either because she was already a Seraphim, or because she was found to be a heartless kill when needed be, massacring whoever she needed to.

Not that Hana enjoyed it, but Pronyma didn't know that.

"Hello Pronyma!" Hana greeted with another smile, though her eyes held a small flicker of malice. "Why are you here? If you're the leader of the Desians, shouldn't you be wreaking havoc on the declining world?" she asked curiously.

Before Pronyma could snap a lame comeback at Hana, her eyes caught sight of Colette, and her makeshift Key Crest.

"Look at that pathetic thing. I shall remove it at once." she declared, and approached Colette. Her hand neared to grasp the chunk of carved inhibitor ore, but two hands grabbed them before she could tear it off.

"No...NO!" Colette shouted.

"Colette...spoke!" Genis exclaimed and Colette declared,

"Lloyd gave me this necklace! I'm never taking it off." Pronyma then let go the Key Crest.

"Humans and their sentiments..." she muttered, "Let that Key Crest be your downfall." The moment Pronyma let go of Colette completely, Colette stumbled and broke a machine before her. The light cage surrounding the others then dissipated.

"Uh oh...I broke it.." she uttered.

"Haha, that's our Colette." Genis laughed.

"Some things never change." Raine smiled gently.

"I think I'm in love!" Zelos exclaimed, only to get jabbed in the gut by Sheena.

"You and your perversions!" she glared. There was a small jealous tone in her voice, but no one took notice of it at the time.

Lloyd ran over to Colette, where she smiled at him.

"Thank you. When you put the Key Crest on me, I actually gained consciousness of myself, but I was unable to do anything about it...But I was so happy!" she smiled and Lloyd grinned as well.

"You wretched humans! And you!" Pronyma shouted at Hana and Neviros.

"Hey, drop the personal anger. I'm not of Cruxis anymore, so give it the fuck up." Hana grinned and Pronyma glowered at her.

"I should tear you and your family down." she hissed, but Yuan raised an eyebrow. Pronyma noted the look on Yuan's face, and silenced herself.

"Good. You aren't tearing any families apart today, Pronyma. Either way," Yuan was cut off by a blue light, and Kratos appeared from the shining orb.

"Yuan, you must go. Lord Yggdrasil has summoned you. We will take care of the Chosen." Kratos informed, getting straight to business.

"I will go, but in return for the Chosen, I request that I take Lloyd captive." Yuan replied, more asking Kratos permission to borrow Lloyd, like how an uncle borrows his brother-in-law's children, then returns them when they don't want them anymore.

"Lord Yggdrasil has no need to bother with Lloyd now." Kratos informed, then turned to Lloyd himself. "Speaking of which, why have you come all the way here to Tethe'alla?" he requested.

"Because we wanted to save Colette!" Lloyd shouted at the man hotly. Kratos looked to Colette's Key Crest, and shook his head. Such shoddy craftsmanship...it must have been made by Lloyd. Of course it was, he was the only one capable to.

"You may have been able to restore her consciousness, but have you really saved her?" Kratos questioned, knowing that with a mana signature that similar to Martel's, Colette may have the same illness as Martel herself. And the Unicorn had also said that Colette had the illness, calling her Martel for that reason. (A/N: Yes, I know that this is inaccurate, but I can't remember what was actually said, and I don't have the time to start a new game.)

"What do you mean!" Lloyd shouted, his voice even louder than before.

"Never mind. Pronyma, take care of these people. Yuan, let us go." Kratos ordered, causing a reluctant Yuan to leave, and Pronyma to assume a battle stance. Yuan sprouted purple tiger butterfly wings, causing Hana to snicker.

"Such feminine wings!" she teased. Yuan looked back at Hana and he smiled.

"I see you're more like how you were again." he declared.

"Yuan's an angel too!" Genis exclaimed, ignoring the private conversation between the couple.

"Well...yeah! That's how I met Yuan. In Cruxis." Hana shrugged, then looked to Pronyma, who was closing in on the group.

"You wretched lot are going to die here." Pronyma hissed, and four of the nine also assumed a battle position, charging at her to fight.

(A/N: Yes, yes, I can't write battle scenes...I'm just not all that good at them...I need more skill to write those...)

"Urgh...I can't believe I lost to these children!" Pronyma groaned in pain and disgust, as she hacked up a spurt of blood. "I will get you for this." she vowed, and teleported away.

"Good luck with that!" Hana laughed at the older woman, and waved her hands at her happily.

"She's...a lot stranger now..." Sheena commented.

"I like my mama how she is now!" Neviros smiled, and Lloyd looked at her, suddenly able to remember how she was when he was a little child. And her phasing through the walls, which he loved to imitate.

But who was the man that he could never see? His image was always blurred out, leaving Lloyd confused.

"Who are you?" Lloyd asked quietly, glad that no one was able to hear, save for Colette.

"Who's who?" she asked. Lloyd looked at her, and smiled.

"It's okay. I'm just thinking out loud. Besides, you're back to normal!" he laughed mirthfully, and the others nodded.

"It is good that Colette is back to normal." Presea stated, her voice monotone and blank. Colette looked to her, and sadly replied with,

"I feel like I'm looking at how I used to be..." she then smiled and added, "But to get caught up, I guess that this is Zelos," Colette smiled.

"You remember me! Oh yeah! We Chosens have to stick together!" Zelos grinned.

"You're Presea." Colette indicated to the pink-haired girl before her.

"Correct." Presea acknowledged, and the others smiled even more.

"It's good to have you back, Colette." Neviros smiled, and just for the hell of it, turned into a dog and sniffed Colette's hand happily.

"Aww! She's so cute! Can I keep her?" Colette exclaimed, out of habit. Everyone else laughed.

"She's her old self again." Sheena sighed.

"It's good to be back!" Colette's lips pulled upwards joyously.

_With Colette back to who she was, the next place to go was Ozette, to drop Presea off. But with these new revelations, Lloyd was beginning to question all about what was happening to him, and the others. Who was the blurry man that kept appearing in his now unlocked memories? Hana talked of him as if he was alive, but who was he? It couldn't be..._

Purest Shadows: Wow...I want to stay true to the plot, but with how Kratos acts, I think that it was so obvious as to his paternal relationship to Lloyd. Either way, I think that Lloyd isn't _that_ dim-witted, and with his new memories, I'm sure that he ought to start putting tiny little pieces together. But not big ones that will let him know who fathered him. I have to stay as close to the plot as possible!

Once again, declarations of love to those who still read my story faithfully. I love you!


	14. Sewers that Smell

Purest Shadows: I accidentally started on chapter fifteen first, so I have to get this one finished, so all of the info that's supposed to be here, is in the next chapter. So...as far as I can tell...all I can do is apologize for my horrible tardiness.

Disclaimer: Yes...I refuse to say that I own this, because I don't like getting sued.

Chapter Fourteen: Sewers That Smell

_Before the company could head for Ozette, they had to get across the sea. The Grand Tethe'alla Bridge had been closed down. There was a way, but to get there, some major sneaking had to be done._

"How are we supposed to get into Meltokio!" Sheena exclaimed at Zelos.

"I know Meltokio like the back of my hand! Don't worry, I know how we can get in." Zelos chuckled and he took them to a backstop on the west side of the city walls.

"The sewers? How do you know about the sewers?" Raine asked, peering into the dank area. It reeked of garbage, but no one tried to pay any attention to it.

"Well, Meltokio closes their gates at night, so I used the sewers to get back inside the city walls." Zelos explained, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively. Sheena turned a furious shade of red, and Colette asked,

"What kind of things were you doing outside of Meltokio?"

"If you want, I can show you tonight." Zelos grinned. Sheena, Hana, and surprisingly enough, Raine as well, drew out their weapons and pointed them at Zelos' neck. (Sheena only held her cards ready to strike him in the neck.)

"Don't you even think about it." All three women warned and the party headed inside.

"What was he talking about?" Lloyd asked.

"You'll understand...later on in life..." Raine tried to use the right words, hoping that they worked.

The sewers stank, and the ground was littered in animal droppings and other random garbage.

"This is disgusting." Genis grimaced, and looked to Neviros rather enviously.

"Hehe...I can fly to get out of this!" Neviros grinned and she turned into a pigeon, flying onto Genis' head.

"This isn't fair..." he bemoaned and Lloyd looked to him.

"What can we say? She has an attachment to you...though...it may be because you were the only kid near her age group that hung around her..." Lloyd shrugged, and Neviros let out a shrill 'Coo', as if to say,

"_Genis was not the only person I hung around!"_

"Colette and I don't count because we're at least seven years older than you." Lloyd replied and Neviros-pigeon flew off Genis' head, and swiftly turned back into herself, kicking Lloyd in the head.

"Hey! Don't make me come back there!" Hana shouted, looking back at the fighting trio.

"They haven't changed..." Colette smiled, laughing a bit. As much as she had missed in her 'comatose' state, the squabbling between Lloyd, Genis, and Neviros didn't change one bit.

"Of course we haven't changed! What's there to change about us!" Neviros shouted hotheadedly, her fingers pulling Lloyd's nostrils up, making her cousin look like a pig. Lloyd had his arms around Neviros' waist, ready to throw him over her shoulder and into Genis, who was trying to pull Neviros and Lloyd down.

"If you three don't stop fighting, I will come back there and whip you all!" Hana shouted, turning around.

"Ooh...Dominatrix..." Zelos grinned. Hana pulled out a whip, and it became encased in ice. (A/N: I just realized that the two elements used in Hana's whips are fire and ice...Material Blade!) Pointing it at Zelos' neck, she set her other one on fire and pointed it at his penis.

Zelos decided to protect his genitalia. It was a rather stupid choice, for if Hana stabbed Zelos in the neck, he'd be dead, and unable to use his manhood. However, Zelos wouldn't have a penis to use if Hana lopped it off as well.

"Now, shut up about Dominatrix shit before I slice your neck open." Hana hissed, another 'fond' memory making it's way into her mind. Pushing it down, Hana allowed Zelos to rush away, and hide behind Sheena.

"You don't want me dead, do you?" he asked pathetically. Sheena looked thoughtful for a moment, as if the choice was really hard to make.

"Well...the world would have one less pervert...but if you were to die...then we'd have lost a good fighter...hmm..." Sheena weighed the odds before pushing Zelos back to Hana. "Let him live."

"Then off goes his-"

"NO WAY!"

"Well...I can't kill you... I've gotta take something!"

_Splash!_

"What the..." Sheena gaped at the three fighting children in the water, still fighting each other, even though they were now in dirty water.

"Such children..." Raine sighed, as Hana phased, wading into the water. Unphasing her hands, Hana pulled the children out of the water, and tossing them back onto the brick ground.

"When we get home, you aren't getting fed for a week," Hana pointed a finger at Lloyd, and then to Neviros, "And you aren't getting fed for a month." Both gaped at Hana and whined,

"Mama!"

"Aunt Hana!"

"Genis, didn't I teach you better!" Raine reprimanded her small brother and picked him up, giving him a spanking.

"Oww! Raine!" Genis shouted, and everyone looked away, including Presea, who was just doing what everyone else was doing.

"Well...to make sure that they don't fight," Hana sighed, and pulled out her whips again. Tying one whip around Lloyd's wrist, she handed the handle to Sheena. She then did the same for Neviros, holding the handle herself.

"So...what do you want me to do?" Sheena asked.

"If you see Lloyd come within striking range of Neviros or Genis, give the whip a hard tug." Hana explained.

"I can't believe you're doing this again..." Lloyd grumbled, remembering his old punishments for fighting with Neviros. Whenever the pair fought, which was often, Hana would tie them to her whips, then each handle to separate areas of the room.

It usually ended up with the two pretending to be captive, and still continued on till now.

"Oh..." Sheena nodded and gave the whip a forceful yank. Lloyd was pulled back, and forced onto his back. "This is kind of fun!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Not for you...oww..." Lloyd groaned and got back up. Deciding that it was best to stay as far from Genis and Neviros as possible, Lloyd walked in front of everyone else. Genis, who was also bound by a long belt, stayed in the middle, and as usual, Neviros remained at the rear of the group, only in front of Hana.

Colette walked up to Lloyd and asked,

"Does this usually happen?"

"All the time..." Lloyd grumbled and crossed his unbound arm, the other one being suspended by the whip behind him.

"Really? Wow...I thought you and Neviros were usually on good terms..." Colette sighed. "You don't like her?"

"What! Of course not! I couldn't hate Neviros, but we just end up play-fighting a lot, and when one of us gets hurt, we end up fighting for real..." Lloyd chuckled and looked back at Neviros, who was now in the shape of a rat. She had tried to run off, but Hana caught her by the tail and held the mouse-girl upside down.

Neviros turned back into herself, Hana still holding onto Neviros' green shirt-tail.

"Maaaammmmaaaa! Put me down!" Neviros whined, her blue hair standing on end. (Or was it falling on end because she was still upside down?)

"Neeeeviiiiroooos! There's no cheating out of your punishment!" Hana whined in the same tone of voice. As Hana set Neviros down, she immediately wrapped her wrist again. Lloyd smiled, then looked to Genis, who was staring at Presea, with a light tint of pink on his cheeks.

Lloyd laughed at that as well, and the simultaneous response from his younger friend/cousin was,

"What are you laughing at!" causing a chorus of laughs and giggles to erupt from the whole group...except Presea, who still stood by herself, unaffected by her surroundings.

"It's odd..." Hana murmured, looking at Presea. Anna was never like this when she had her Cruxis Crystal...and she had had it for a total of six years. Anna had never shown any signs of suppressed emotions. Why was this so different? Could...could Presea have had it on even longer? Anna hadn't aged when she had her Cruxis Crystal, Presea must not have either.

Shaking off the notion, Hana looked to the others.

Zelos was, once again, sweet-talking Sheena, who was pulling Lloyd away from Colette as a human shield. Genis was amusedly watching, laughing as Lloyd was pushed away from Sheena by Zelos, and a little by Colette. Presea was walking behind Sheena, but she seemed to be ignoring the situation, her mind somewhere in La La Land. Raine was shaking her head, shocked at how immature the others could be, and Neviros was circling above them in the shape of a vulture, for a little more humor.

"Aww c'mon Sheena! That's not that bad of a thing! You should be flattered that the Chosen likes you!" Zelos grinned.

"You like everything that has a hole." Sheena spat back at him.

"Ooh...ouch." Zelos put a hand to his face, as if he had been slapped. "But Sheena, I like you the most."

"You know, I liked you better when we were at the Academy." Sheena glared and Zelos' grin faded a little. The two seemed to have more history than the others let on.

"At the Academy? You two went to school together?" Colette asked.

"Regretfully, yes." Sheena sighed, and glared at Zelos. Zelos gave a weak half-smile, and discretely averted his eyes from Sheena. He had a reputation to uphold!

"Hey look!" he exclaimed, making a diversion. "We're near the end!" but three men with wooden clubs dropped down, glaring at them.

"We have been ordered by the Pope to kill you, in exchange for our freedom." the man in the middle informed, and everyone drew their weapons. Lloyd and Neviros hastily shook off their bindings, and tossed them to Hana.

"Kill us?" Lloyd asked and the two groups clashed weapons.

After, with much regret, killing their opponents, another man dropped down, right on top of Zelos. Unlike the other convicts, he was bound by the hands, and had a much more sophisticated air about him, shown in the way he said,

"Hand over the Chosen of Sylvarant, or this Chosen dies." Zelos began to squirm uncontrollably, and he declared,

"Hey, Lloooyd...If you abandon me here, I swear, I'll come back to haunt you!"

"Funny...I just had a strong urge to abandon you..." Lloyd grinned. The azure-haired convict looked over the group, when he spotted a child with pink hair. She looked so much like...

"Are you Presea?" the convict asked, as he neared Presea slowly. He then spotted the Cruxis Crystal on her body. "So you also have become a victim of this twisted protocol..."

"Get away from her!" Genis shouted protectively. The convict only shook his head, and bounded away.

"That was weird..." Lloyd shrugged, as everyone headed out.

They headed into the Elemental Research Laboratory, and spoke to the half-elves inside.

"Aren't you the wanted..." one of the men faltered as Sheena informed hastily,

"We need a way to get across the sea." Three of the scientists huddled together, and a female half-elf spoke,

"We know of a way, but you will have to take an Elemental Cargo."

"What!" Zelos and Sheena exclaimed.

"We're not packages!" Sheena shouted and Colette asked,

"Packages?"

"En Elemental Cargo is a machine powered by Exspheres and using the mana in the air, it propels forward. If Sheena uses Undine, it can surf across the water." another half-elf explained.

"Well...we should get going" Raine declared, and the head half-elf handed Lloyd a small item.

"What's this?" he asked. The others peered over his shoulder, and they looked to Hana, who grinned and pointed to the half-elf who was about to explain.

"This is a Wing Pack." he informed.

"What's it supposed to do?" Genis asked.

"You'll see. Let's go!" Sheena exclaimed and added, "Kuchinawa is going to join us at the bridge."

_With the Wing Pack in hand, the everyone marched back through the sewers, holding their noses. Next stop: The Grand Tethe'alla Bridge! At least it smelt better._

Purest Shadows: Yep...I'm sure that I'm going to get through a lot of this story if I can't get my Internet up for a while...damn. But if you still read this, I want to let you know that I love you!


	15. The Gaoracchia Forest and Mizuho

Purest Shadows: I owe you all apologies. My Internet has been stupid lately, and I can't get any new chapters posted. So to make up for things, I'm still going to keep writing, and post all the chapters at once. I hope that not many of my chapters will be written before I manage to fix my wireless adapter.

Disclaimer: Yes, yes. I may not have Internet access at this exact moment, but I still can say this. I don't own ToS, as much as I dream about owning it one day.

Chapter Fifteen: The Gaoracchia Forest and Mizuho

_Everyone was now intact, but there was still the problem of where the party was going to go next. The first stop was Ozette, but they had to travel through the Gaoracchia Forest first._

"Dammit...so now we're wanted everywhere!" Lloyd groaned. The group was unable to go to Meltokio, or Sybak.

"What do you expect! We've become wanted criminals..." Neviros retorted. Recently, she had learned how to turn her limbs onto parts of animals, and not the full transformation, so she had turned her arms into wings, so she could fly when her legs got too tired.

"But...this just doesn't seem fair!" Lloyd snapped, as Neviros kicked Lloyd's head angrily.

"Don't shout at me!" she retorted, and Lloyd looked down. Colette walked over to Lloyd, giving him a saddened smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"It's okay. We'll get through this." she soothed, and Lloyd nodded, smiling back at Colette. Behind the pair, Hana and Raine smiled at each other.

"He's growing up! Anna and K- never mind...but they would be happy to see Lloyd grow up..." Hana smiled at Lloyd, but her fists then tightened themselves. "Dammit...you stupid asshole...you aren't here...watching your son grow up." Hana cursed Kratos under her breath.

Though she was sure that Kratos was watching through some projector, and when Yuan was there, him as well. Those seraphim and their advanced technology. Hana didn't count because she was practically living Amish, compared to the other seraphim in Derris-Kharlan.

"Hana...who are you talking about? Isn't Lloyd's father dead as well?" Raine asked curiously. Hana looked to her friend and was silent for a moment.

_'Kratos protected my secrets...so I will protect his too.' _Hana thought and she replied,

"Yeah...But I know that Anna is with Lloyd. Her consciousness still lives on in Lloyd's Exsphere. But...his father, all he can do is watch from above with the angels...in that sort of heavenly sense." Hana smiled at the irony in her words, but Raine seemed to have bought it. Turning away, Hana sighed and muttered to herself,

"I must be a pathological liar..."

The group traveled to the entrance of the Gaoracchia Forest, but everyone hesitated. Especially Zelos and Sheena, for they had heard the stories about Gaoracchia Forest. The haunted forest hadn't shown any signs of specters since Tethe'alla began to flourish, but the tales were still frightening.

"I don't want to go in there!" Zelos exclaimed and ran away. As he ran past Sheena, the young woman grabbed him by the neck of his collar and jerked him back. Lloyd subconsciously rubbed his wrist, the whip-like impression still fresh upon it.

"You're going in there." Sheena declared, and marched on inside, dragging Zelos with her.

"Hey...where's Neviros?" Genis asked, looking around. If she had phased, she would still be visible, so she must have sneaked off.

"AHH!" Sheena and Zelos screamed, running out of the forest, "MONSTER!" a few loud thuds were heard as a dragon stomped out of the entrance.

"URAGGH!" it shouted, causing the others to twitch in fear.

"Dragon. A common breed. Chances of running away, ninety-eight percent." Presea calculated, as Colette smiled gleefully,

"Neviros, is this why you snook off?" Hana, who was unaffected as well, stared at the young girl and her eyes narrowed.

"Care to explain why you decided to scare these folklore believing locals?" she asked, a light tone of jest in her voice. The dragon began to glow a light green, and it shrunk back into Neviros.

"Because they're folklore believing locals!" Neviros exclaimed, quoting her mother. Hana rolled her eyes and picked Neviros up, and resting the girl on a propped up knee. She raised her hand up high, as if to give the impression of a hard spanking, but instead of doing so, she grabbed Neviros by the ear and dragged her off, using her own mana to make sure that Neviros wouldn't be able to phase.

"Shade are scary. These forests don't even phase them." Lloyd shuddered.

"You're of Shade descent! How can you be bothered by this!" Genis exclaimed. He himself, was also trying to not be afraid. Before he knew that Neviros was part Shade, he knew she was a Half-Elf, thus establishing a sort of connection, even though he had never admitted to being one himself. Genis had his pride, y'know,(A/N: KH II!) and he would not get 'out-braved' by a nine-year-old with too much bravado! With this in mind, he marched in as well, grabbing Raine with one hand, Lloyd with the other.

As we all know, wherever Lloyd goes, so does Colette, so the blonde Chosen also followed suit. Soon, it was all but Sheena, Zelos, and Presea.

"The Gaoracchia Forest. One thousand seventy-two fables published on it's horrors. Chances of travelers going through and surviving...forty-one percent." Presea informed, and also followed, knowing that home was in that direction.

"Forty-one percent!" Zelos exclaimed and Sheena nodded.

"You heard the girl. Let's go." Sheena grinned and raced to catch up with the others. Zelos sighed, then looked over to the darker parts of the forest. Shuddering, he gingerly stepped within the area as Lloyd looked back and shouted,

"Hey! Are you coming, or what?" a big grin melted onto Zelos' face as he raced to catch up to everyone.

_'They aren't too bad...'_

The Gaoracchia Forest was much bigger than everyone thought it to be. It was quite easy to get lost, and they did so many times.

"Dammit!" Lloyd shouted, as they had passed a tree that Presea had conveniently marked with her dagger a few hours prior. "We've passed this tree at least four times!"

"Well...you can't expect this to be an easy place to get through. Why do you think they call this place haunted?" Sheena shuddered as Hana walked up to them, holding an odd looking plant.

"Because of us...and this..." Hana motioned to herself and Neviros and the plant in her hands. It appeared to be a strange blue fruit, and an intoxicating smell was coming from it.

"What do you mean? And what's that plant?" Genis asked.

"Well...like I said, when Tethe'alla wanes, Ronoia comes here...to this forest. Because Shades don't have life light until they leave this forest, they are thought to be ghosts. And this plant is Maromisa. The king is currently poisoned with this...but it has other uses as well." Hana looked down at the plant and crushed it in her hand.

An orange juice oozed out of it, as many of the group members were brought to it.

"That smells good..." Lloyd sniffed the air, catching a whiff of the deadly juice.

"That's why it kills so many people." Hana hissed, swatting away Sheena's hand. "Maromisa is supposed to draw out the unusable mana in your body, and with it, your life. Unless you have a Cruxis Crystal, then it can trap the mana, and make it usable. That's why seraphim have so much mana...unless you're like Colette." she informed, and Lloyd looked to it.

"Did they do that to you?" he asked.

"...I chose to remember this...because I wanted reason to hate Yggdrasil. Despite the fact that the Cruxis Crystal protects you from losing all the mana in your body...it induces great pain, even without all the needles injecting them into your body at once. Many a seraphim lose their minds from the pain." Hana informed and stared at Zelos. His eyes stared at the fruit with hungry eyes.

But they didn't seem to be because of his own physical hunger. Zelos wanted something of this plant, didn't he?

"Can you tell us more? How was it to become a seraphim?" he asked. Hana shuddered at the thought.

"Unlike Colette, we didn't have the chances to fuse with the crystal by releasing seals. And we had Key Crests as well. Either way, we had Maromisa injected into out bloodstream through tons of needles. Afterwards, we were forcedly phased over and over. You know, like ripping apart your molecules so you can get used to the molecular stress of angelic teleportation." Hana hastily threw the fruit in her hand into a far off area in her anger.

"And the wings?" Raine asked. Hana released her wings for a moment. Staring at the shining green dragonfly wings, Hana looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well...I actually don't know. I didn't know I was able to use them until after I got that whole protocol thing done with, but I guess that I had already fused with the Crystal a little. You know...I can't sleep because of it...so wings come with a loss of sleep, I suppose." she shrugged. Looking back to Zelos, she noted that his eyes were focused on the area where she had thrown the Maromisa.

"But...why can I sleep now, but I still have the wings?" Colette asked.

"You were fusing with the Cruxis Crystal, so that took away your senses. However, because you got a Key Crest, the fusion had been reversed...so you kept all that angel stuff. Make sense?" Hana asked. Colette nodded. "Any more questions, because it's late, and you all need to sleep." Hana declared.

"What would happen if you get a Key Crest, then?" Lloyd asked. Hana shook her head violently.

"No way! You're not going to harp on that subject again, are you!" Hana asked frantically. Her hands began to shake as they moved to cover her Cruxis Crystal.

"I'm not going to remove it!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I just wanted to know." he sighed. Hana looked away, beginning to calm down.

"Okay.. But...you know what would happen anyway. Now let's go to sleep!" Hana grinned and the others nodded.

"Of course we know what would happen. You'd become a demon, and if we were able to put the Cruxis Crystal back on, you'd be able to sleep again." Lloyd muttered. But he knew he wouldn't want to deal with Hana's demonic form. Closing his eyes, Lloyd drifted off to sleep.

"Why is it that others suffer at my expense?" Colette asked quietly. Her thoughts kept pestering her, and she was unable to sleep, as she lied on the ground. She was unable to complete the world regeneration, so Sylvarant suffered. She lost her soul, and her friends suffered. Because she had to become the Chosen, other people, like Anna and Presea had to suffer, undergoing the Angelus Project. Because she needed people to protect her, some were forcedly turned into seraphim, like Hana. Because she was the Chosen, Desians were set out to make life hell for her and others, making Half-Elves discriminated, so people like Neviros, Genis, and Raine suffered as well.

And yet...it hurt her most of all that Lloyd had to suffer at her expense, seeing her go through such a horrid experience, even crying for her. Why did they have to do that?

"Soon, they're going to suffer for me again..." Colette sniffled, and pressed on a hardening spot on her body, right above her navel. "What's happening?" she asked and closed her eyes, forcing herself into an uneasy sleep.

"Raine, why is it that Yggdrasil made the world like this?" Genis asked quietly. Raine looked to her brother and shrugged.

"I honestly don't know...but I wish I did, just to make it all stop. Why does Yggdrasil think he has the right to twist the worlds?" Raine asked in response.

"I don't know either." Genis replied, with a smile, despite himself. He looked over to Hana and Neviros, the latter sleeping in the formers lap. His eyes then darted over to Presea. "And why does he make people like Hana and Presea suffer?" Raine could not answer this one as well.

"I don't know, but I guess he wants it for his own twisted objectives, I would have to assume. But we should sleep." she urged, and Genis lied down, Raine following suit. Despite her not having done so in years, she pulled Genis closer to her, as if to comfort the boy, and herself.

"Sheena, are you going to sleep?" Presea asked as the well endowed ninja turned to the pinkette.

"Yeah...we need our rest...and you do to." Sheena knew that her words would have no effect on the small girl, for she was like how Colette was. But it seemed like it would comfort her to say those words. As if to persuade herself to sleep as well.

"Yes...the resting time we should receive is eight hours. We will be ninety-seven percent refreshed." Presea calculated once again.

"That's just scary." Sheena shuddered as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Presea only stood by, not feeling tired, and therefore, not feeling the need to sleep.

"Neviros, are you sleeping?" Hana asked quietly as Neviros turned to her side, sub-phasing a little and murmuring,

"Giant chicken egg...no...I don't want to be part of a pumpkin soufflé!" Hana chuckled lightly.

"The soufflé dream again..." she sighed and set Neviros aside. Hana had agreed to be watch, because she didn't need to sleep. But that didn't explain why Zelos was awake. "Why are you up, Chosen?" Hana asked, feeling a bit edgy. Zelos was behind her, and if he was with Cruxis, she'd be as good as dead right now. The approaching footsteps halted as Zelos approached her from the side.

"I wanted to know something." he informed and Hana looked up to him.

"What?"

"How do I become a seraphim?" Zelos asked quickly. Hana froze.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked, not even looking at the redhead.

"I may want to be one." he replied.

"You don't want to be one. You won't be like Colette...and you need a Cruxis Crystal. Yours isn't with you." Hana stated as Zelos looked down.

"I...I need to become one." he informed. Hana shook her head, and raised a hand to smack Zelos across the face.

"No, you don't." Hana's eyes were murderous as she added, "I can make you feel the same pain Yggdrasil made me feel that day. You will lose all need to sleep, and if it goes far enough, the need to eat as well. I can make you numb to any other pain, because you will feel no pain like it. And this is without the needles and machines."

"I'm willing to do that." Zelos declared. Hana smirked, giving a light chuckle.

"You're a moron. Don't you dare ask me these stupid requests." her tone of voice turned cold, and angry, "If you want it that badly, go to Cruxis yourself, or find another path. I'm not going to help you at all." she then turned on her side and closed her eyes, forcing herself to sleep, though it never came.

"Fine then...I will." Hana vaguely heard Zelos mutter, but thinking it was a part of her that wanted to still sleep, shrugged it off.

The next morning, everyone was refreshed and ready to move on. Well...almost everyone.

"Man...I am exhausted!" Zelos proclaimed as he let out a huge yawn.

"Did you sleep?" Sheena asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah, plenty!" Zelos replied, nodding a bit too quickly for an honest standard. Behind him stood Lloyd and Colette. The two looked to each other and shrugged.

"Were you restless?" Raine asked. Zelos vaguely thought back to his dream about finding that Maromisa plant, and him waking up to do so.

"I suppose I was." Zelos gave a perverted grin, and wriggled his eyebrows.

"You sicko." Sheena muttered, walking off. Raine shook her head, and looked to the ground where Genis lay. He was still snoozing.

"Hey..wake up..." Raine soothed, shaking the smaller boy lightly. After getting no response, Raine smacked Genis upside the head and the child shot up, shouting,

"OWW!" Genis rubbed his head painfully.

Neviros, who was also asleep at the time, awoke at Genis' pained scream and she groggily sat up, glaring at her companion. Walking over to him, her right hand turned into a bear paw, and she smacked Genis as well.

"OWWW!" Genis whined, and glared at Neviros. Neviros smirked evilly, as an impish grin crossed over Genis' features.

He tackled her. They wrestled. Neviros turned into a bear cub, causing Genis to shout,

"Hey! No fair!" as he tangled with the large creature. Neviros only tossed Genis around for a few seconds before pinning him down and walking off, snorting proudly. Turning back into her multi-being self, Neviros grinned.

"What do you mean, no fair? I use my abilities to my advantage!" she declared, causing Genis to pout.

"Oh, get over it." Hana rolled her eyes, and scooped Neviros into her arms, "And that's a cheap shot. Not all of us can turn into dragons and all that other stuff."

"Thank you!" Genis exclaimed. Raine smacked the smaller boy in the head.

"You don't hit girls!" she reprimanded.

"Why? I saw Zelos smack some girl's butt in Sybak!" Neviros piped up. All the other females, Colette included, glared at Zelos.

"Danger levels...rising..." Presea stated in her monotone voice. Zelos began to slowly back away, running in the direction of Ozette. He was about to run along the path directly to the forest-surrounded village when Colette declared,

"I hear footsteps...and lots of clinking metal..." the others were suddenly on their guard.

"Hey! Corrine, scout for us!" Sheena summoned her little fox friend and the small creature ran off in the direction of Ozette.

"Hey, what if there are Papal Knights out to get us?" Hana asked, "It's not like we can really fight. More will only come." Sheena groaned in frustration. She brought her fists to her head and began to bang on her skull for an idea.

"I'll take you to Mizuho!" Sheena shouted, as an act of desperation.

"Hey, hey. Settle down, Sheena. Doesn't Mizuho forbid outsiders?" Zelos asked. As much as he didn't seem to care for much, Zelos' concern for Sheena was apparent.

"I'll deal with my punishment when we get there." Sheena snapped at Zelos, and Corrine came running back to them.

"There are Papal Knights in that direction!" he huffed. Sheena sighed. She didn't want to have to do this, but she had no choice.

"C'mon! We've gotta go!" she shouted, and led the way. The others followed, the only one looking back was Presea.

"I wanna go home..." she whimpered slightly at the sight of her home disappearing behind the trees.

"It's okay, Presea. We'll get you home." Lloyd grinned. Just as they were about to leave, the same blue-haired convict dropped from a tree.

"I have no qualms to settle with you. I just wish to speak to the girl." he informed. He didn't assume an offensive stance, so it was clear he had no intentions of fighting.

"What do you want with Presea, huh!" Genis shouted.

"Yeah, back off. You tried to attack us!"Lloyd exclaimed. They charged in, and the convict sighed. He really didn't want to have to fight. But he did.

And he lost, too.

"Well...now we have to take him with us. It's no good if the Papal knights find him here. Since he's a convict, and a good fighter at that, they will assume he was attacked-which he was- and think we had something to do with it." Raine informed.

"Zelos, carry the big guy for us." Sheena ordered.

"Woah, you want me to lift this guy all by myself!" Zelos exclaimed, after attempting to pick the bulky man up, to no avail.

"Here! I'll help!" Colette smiled, and walked over to Zelos, and the unconscious man.

"Oh, Colette. We Chosens have to stick out for each other, right?" Zelos smiled. Colette nodded, smiling back. She went over to the convict and lifted him with one hand.

"Oh. He's lighter than I thought. I can carry him by myself." Colette beamed.

"Men are so useless these days." Raine sighed.

"You said it." Sheena agreed.

"Or it's just the men that hang around us." Hana commented.

"I resent that." Zelos grumbled. Hana pulled out a whip and used her mana to encase it with ice. She pointed it at Zelos menacingly and glared.

"Resent what now?" she asked and Zelos shook his head, "I thought so." Hana smirked, putting the weapon away.

They reached Mizuho, only to find an angry ninja awaiting them.

"_Sheena! You know the rules!" he would shout, as Sheena accepted her punishment. There was going to be a wait before the others would realize what was going to occur. However, during this time, they could interrogate the convict. He was a man they called Regal..._

Purest Shadows: Well...does my explanation above tell you anything? Because I'm really sad that I had to be so late in sending the next chappie. TT...I'm sad because of that.


	16. A Test of Strength

Purest Shadows: Hey, once again! Purest Shadows here with another wonderful chapter of The Shades 2! Anyway, let's get down to business. Oh, by the way, I'm skipping the whole, Mizuho - Ozette - Altessa - Toize Mines - Ozette (Colette's capture) stuff...I skipped, then realized I missed some stuff, but I'll probably cover it in this chapter.

Disclaimer: Okay, this is the sixteenth one this story...does it stick now? I do NOT own ToS. NAMCO DOES!

On with the show!

Chapter Sixteen: A Test of Strength

_To overcome their current obstacle, Sheena had to defeat Volt. It was a shock to say the least, for Sheena had been trapped in Volt's shadow for her whole life. If anything, this could prove to be Sheena's most difficult trial to come. And yet...some in the group didn't find the concept of Volt terrifying, they found the slow ride to Volt's temple to be even more so._

It was nighttime when the party embarked on the EC to Volt's temple. Rain pounded on the walls of the small cargo, and the waves caused the EC to slow down to a safer pace. It was going to be a long ride, and it was spent in silence. Almost everyone had something on their minds.

For Lloyd, he was worried about Colette. Where was she? How could he have let her be taken away so easily! Lloyd gripped the hilt to his swords angrily, wishing that he could have fought back. That he could have managed to. There was a small, cool hand on his shoulder, and Lloyd looked to see Neviros. The smaller girl rested her head on his lap, in an attempt to-literally-cool the hot-headed teen down. Lloyd had to smile down at Neviros, despite himself, and placed his head on Neviros' gently.

Neviros was...apathetic on the subject. She was always a hopeful girl, like her mother, and she believed that everything would be okay. Even when she was in Asgard Ranch, Neviros always had the glaringly bright hope of her parents rescuing her. She knew Colette would be okay, and that everything would be alright. Neviros had a firm belief in her elder cousin, and she did not doubt him for a moment. Neviros supposed she got it from her father, for Hana was nothing like that...always impulsive, but ever the realist. Hana always said that Yuan was the gentle one, often trusting in what he could, even after that trust was broken. Like how Neviros was, and always would be.

Genis looked from Presea to Neviros. The two were so different...Presea sat in her melancholy guilt, whereas Neviros smiled, having this ethereal knowledge of how things would be. It confused the boy to no extent. How could one person wallow in guilt, and another be calmer than her years should show? As smart as Genis was well known to be, he didn't understand. Tracing it back to where it all began, Genis thought about how Colette must be, and how scared she must be as well. Or was she like Presea, guilty about how worried she was making everyone? But...was Colette like Neviros? Not worrying about what was going to happen to her, but having complete faith in what was going to happen. Some things were always going to be beyond the genius, like how night never knew the day, no matter how closely linked they were.

(A/N: When I get to the specific character stories, should I pair Genis with Neviros or Presea? I'm apathetic on the subject, and whichever pleases the reader, I'll do so. Though...if no one gives me an opinion, I'll just make two on separate storylines, though I'm making every single story here on the same storyline...)

Presea sat in a far corner of the EC, not wanting to be near anyone. She felt odd, not knowing why her heart felt like it was in pain, wanting to tear out of her chest. And what was the sickly feeling in her stomach? Presea didn't understand, but she wanted to get Colette back. She wanted to. She had to. Presea...had to redeem herself for doing such a horrible thing to the people who called her 'friend'. She looked over at the others, wondering how they were doing. Sheena was in the worst state, the tumultuous waves matching her tumultuous thoughts. Zelos seemed to be in deep thought as well, his eyebrows furrowed in anger or confusion. Genis, like Zelos, was confused about something, and his eyes kept shifting to herself and Neviros. Lloyd was angry, but he seemed to be calmer through Neviros' innocent aura. Like how a child should be. Not at all how Presea should be...not anymore, at least...Why couldn't Presea go back to being like Neviros, optimistically ethereal?

Zelos was feeling torn. Deep in his heart, he wanted to go to Sheena, to pull her into his arms, and tell her it would be alright. But Zelos didn't know that, so how could he? It wasn't in Zelos' nature to do something that didn't include knowledge. This led to his belief in siding with the strongest. By pure obviousness, the strongest would win, and the team he seemed to be on was the underdog. Not even with angels like Hana on their team, could they have a chance on their own. Never...But, when he looked at everyone, he could see such fire. Such perseverance. None of them seemed like the type to die easily. Not at all like Zelos himself. Given the chance, he would gladly die. For nothing at all, Zelos would throw his life away...yet the fire he felt from all these people, even Presea, it was powerful. He was starting to have second thoughts, but...once again, knowledge overcame the soul, and Zelos was torn once more.

Regal sat in between Raine and Hana. He felt like he was in between an oven, and a freezer. Raine was warm, shivering through fear. Hana was cold, through her Shade blood, and unmoving. It was unlike Hana to sit still, but her mind was far off. The look in her purple eyes was one of reminiscence, where she thought of happier times. Simpler times. Raine was thinking of the sadder times, her blue eyes reflecting nothing but pure terror. Regal did not know about either woman, and could not assume. Hana was wiser, and more knowledgeable than most women her age, leading to many misconceptions about it. Especially from the proof of having a child so young. Nineteen, from Regal's calculations. Hana did not seem like the type to rush into something so early, standing back and observing before rushing in...Raine made another shiver, bringing Regal back to his thoughts of her. Raine was also knowledgeable, though not through experience, like Hana. She knew things in life through her books, and sheer intelligence. It was so odd to think that the usually unaffected woman could be so terrified at this moment.

Raine was huddled into her corner, the wall between keeping her next to Regal, and not plummeting into the ocean. Raine was thankful for this barrier. She needed this safety net. Without it, she would fall to her doom, the only thing left would be fear. Raine hated her fear. She wanted to be fearless, for those who looked up to her, and those she looked up to as well. Raine could not run into battle without thinking of the consequences, like Lloyd, Hana, and Kratos. Kratos...why was Raine thinking about the man? She did not have romantic feelings for him, despite what others thought. Raine simply was wondering how he could have been so kind to Lloyd, speaking to him like how a father would to his son. She also noted that when Hana saw this, she would have this secretive smile on her lips, mouthing the words, _'About think, you fucking dumbass'_ . Raine didn't know whether Hana was saying this to Kratos, or Lloyd. So much Raine didn't know, and so much she wanted to...

Hana lied on her seat, sprawled out on it like a small child. She was phased, so the bars on the railings wouldn't bother her as she lied down. Her mind was distant, thinking of things over twenty years ago. Hana thought it was likely of all the seraphim to be caught in the past, not moving forward. Kratos did, holding onto the emptiness and meaninglessness of life, after his family had been ripped from him. Yuan did, by holding onto Martel's last wish. (And by doing this, making Hana jealous as well). Mithos held on, not letting go of Martel, and warping her dreams and wishes to the farthest thing from them. And Hana? She could not let go of the happier times, when things were simple. She would tease Yuan, fight Kratos, and worry for Anna. It was her simple lifestyle, and one that was very difficult to let go of. Hana looked to Neviros, wondering how she could have been so calm. Neviros had never known Yuan until recently, but she reflected him in so many ways...that ethereal optimism, the loyalty that was impossible to break, everything except her passive-aggression.

And yet, the most worried of them all was Sheena. Obviously. She was with Corrine, the two in a comforting embrace. No words could have been spoken, none would have made them feel better. Sheena was going back to the past she was so terrified of, and Corrine only wanted Sheena to be feel better. And it was getting harder...all Sheena could do not to become afraid was to fall into a dreamless sleep, and any form of sleep evaded everyone as if they were angels. Sheena froze at the thought, remembering the angels she knew. Kratos, Hana, and...Colette. This is why they were doing this...so they could rescue Colette, right? All of this was always for her sake, but Sheena was always indebted to the cheery Chosen. And if Sheen could not be strong for herself, then she would be strong for Colette.

As difficult as it was going to be.

"Neviros?" Lloyd asked suddenly, breaking the long silence. Everyone turned to the cousins with interest.

"Yeah?" Neviros asked, acting as if no one was watching at all.

"Do you think we'll get through this? We'll be able to accomplish everything we wanted to before?" Lloyd asked quietly. Even Lloyd doubted, and if he had to rely on the firm innocence of his ethereal cousin, he would. Neviros only laughed softly.

"I don't know why you're asking me, when you know what my answer will be." she began, "But I know we will. Good always wins over evil." Neviros added. Everyone smiled. Only a child could answer such a serious question with such simplicity.

"But how do you know that we are in the right, and they are in the wrong?" Regal asked. These things always got to him, and he needed proof, even from a child.

"Because we aren't fighting for ourselves. Completely, at least. We have the state of other people in this world in mind, and if we don't think of them before we act, then we will always be in the wrong. We have been before, but we are trying to save them now, and are in the process of redeeming ourselves." Neviros supplied.

"How did you get so wise for someone so young?" Sheena asked, smiling a little.

"I had a good mama to teach me so, and a papa who she says I'm just like." Neviros grinned brightly. Hana flushed a little, proud of her child.

"Oh, I didn't do anything of the sort...I just said you were like Yuan...and said what he was like." she protested.

"Hey, we're almost there." Zelos piped up, and everyone looked out the windows to see the forming land mass. Where the small island was, the storm was moving away, and the waters were calm. Everyone seemed to be more hopeful as they moved along, hoping that it could only get better as they approached.

Of course, things didn't even do that.

"Corrine? Why!" Sheena cried out, running over to the small fox that had given up his life for hers.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help..." Corrine wheezed, and collapsed.

"No Corinne! Don't die..." Sheena whispered, as the fox's body faded from view. Hana had to look away, remembering the death of her own summon, Neviros-Tanalis. She would talk to Sheena about it later. Volt stood before them all, prepared to strike Sheena down, when Lloyd came and deflected the blow with his sword.

"Sheena, get a hold of yourself!" he shouted. "If you don't you'll always be haunted by Volt's shadow! Don't let Corrine's sacrifice go to waste!" Sheena seemed to be trembling, trying to leave Corrine's spot.

"You're right...I have to stand and fight..." Sheena rose to her feet, her eyes glistening with anger, determination, and tears. "For the sake of everyone who stood up to defend me, Volt, I demand your power!" she roared, and charged into battle.

It was difficult to subdue Volt, even with all nine of them. Volt was enraged at Sheena's outburst, shocked that a mere human would try to control him. Of course, in the end, Volt was subdued. (There were nine of them after all!).

The pact was made, as Presea spotted something lying on the ground.

"Sheena...here. Corrine's...memento..." she handed the small bell to Sheena, not sure why her lips were sagging towards the ground. Sheena accepted the bell thankfully, and whispered,

"Everyone...Corrine...Thank you."

Everyone walked past the entrance, and boarded the EC. Zelos began to declare a happy moment, despite the sad tone.

"You're horrible. Sheena's in pain, and all you can think of is to have a happy moment!" Raine shouted angrily. She teetered angrily, and nearly fell off the EC. "AIE!" she screamed. Everyone walked from Zelos, save for Neviros, who simply said,

"You want her to feel better, and this may be a way...but no one can understand. If they can't understand, then Sheena won't either. They will...in time. They have to." Neviros smiled brightly. Zelos gave off a sad smile.

"You remind me of my sister, when we were still able to play together." he looked out into the direction of wherever the South East Abbey would be.

"Well, I hope you get to play with her again." Neviros smiled. To her, everything would get better. Everything had to get better, and if they didn't, they would eventually. That was how Seles was when it came to her illness. She always thought it was going to get better. Always. Yet, after the house arrest, she became bitter, and stopped smiling at Zelos as much. Whenever Zelos visited, they became shorter and shorter, and soon the man never came to see his sister. He wanted to...any excuse would do now.

"Yeah...I do to." Zelos sighed, and walked off.

"It seems that Zelos is still feeling the pain of a loss, like Sheena..." Neviros mused, and went over to tug on Genis' hair for a few short minutes.

"Sheena...can I speak with you?" Hana asked softly, walking over to the ninja. Sheena looked at Hana with her teary red eyes, and nodded.

"About what?" she asked, her voice choked and torn. She already knew what, but needed the confirmation.

"About Corrine." Hana answered, and led Sheena to stand on top of the EC with her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Hana phased them both so if something happened, they wouldn't fall into the ocean. "As hard as it is to believe, he isn't dead..."

"What do you mean? I saw him die right in front of me!" Sheena shouted. Hana winced at Sheena's angered tone of voice.

"I mean...all summon spirits are made of mana. Mana doesn't die, Sheena. A summon spirit is just the physical manifestation of that mana...the most powerful form of that mana, and it's guardian. Corrine isn't dead. He has just moved on to another seal. There is a seal with no summon..." Hana replied, her half-smile smile far off and distant.

"How do you know this?" Sheena asked, her tone somewhat accusing.

"I knew someone who's best friend, like you, was a summon spirit. She had lost almost everyone, and when she lost that summon, she was heartbroken. But with that summon's last breath, she told her about what would happen. Nothing would change. The summon would be reborn, then move to the next unused seal, normally their own. Simply put, you can let go of Corrine, because he's alive. You can go see him again." Hana smiled, though it was still sad, and still far off.

"You really know a lot...I guess it's because you were one of the five seraphim." Sheena sighed.

"You have no idea." Hana replied, and walked back into the EC, to leave Sheena with her thoughts.

_Sheena returned to the group with a wide smile, asking for a 'happy moment'. She felt content, knowing that Corrine was out there, and she would be reunited with her dear friend once more. They would return to Mizuho, and then go to the Tethe'alla Base, where they would break in and steal the Rheairds. Once again, they would meet face to face with Yuan, but would Hana be able to keep up her 'enemy on friendly terms' up?_

Purest Shadows: Yep...it took me a while, but I finally got off my ass and got to work! Anyway, I just started the tenth grade...it's easy...hehe. Oh, and I think I'll write a Sheena-centric fic about her going to see Veruis post-ToS.


	17. A Book

Purest Shadows: Chapter seventeen...what shall it be about...oh right...the Tethe'alla base...I remember...haha.

Oh, and to Alaia Skyhawk, you know...I was thinking about that...then I realized that Lloyd had no elven blood in him...though I may find a way for him to be able to...maybe his Cruxis Crystal allows him to do so?

Chapter seventeen: A Book

_Inside the base. They were finally going to get those Rheairds, and save Colette. It was highly anticipated, for everyone. Though, not everyone had the same reasons why._

"So...we need the passwords?" Lloyd asked. Everyone turned to Hana, who rose her hands up in innocence.

"Hey, I never needed passwords! I'm a Shade, remember?" she asked, phasing an arm to get her point across.

"Oh...right..." Raine sighed. "That means we have to go get them." Everyone groaned in exasperation. Except for Neviros and Hana, who looked at each other and grinned.

"No, you two are not leaving us to go see Yuan. You two are staying with us." Sheena put her hands on her hips and frowned disapprovingly.

"Hey, I'm older than you. I can what I want." Hana retorted.

"Yet I am older than you." Regal replied, and Hana was about to retort about her age, but shut her mouth. Like hell she was going to admit she was _fifty_. It was a woman's nature to lie about her age, after all.

"Well...too bad!" Hana exclaimed, and teleported off like a child. Her hand was attached to Neviros', and she went with her mother.

"Damn that woman...she's crazy..." Zelos shook his head. The group went off to find those passwords, sighing about how crazy Shades were.

With Hana and Neviros, it was easy to make it to Yuan's chambers. Hana found Yuan at his desk, reading a book from the Kharlan War. It was the only one left from the original printing, therefore the only on in it's original text. Yuan loved the story, and it never got old, even though he had read it enough times to have every letter memorized.

Hana placed her hands on Yuan's eyes childishly, and blew on his neck softly, causing shivers to run up and down Yuan's spine. Yuan wheeled around in his seat to see his wife and daughter before him.

"Hana! Neviros! How did...how did you get here?" he asked, then looked around the room. "The others aren't right behind you, are they?" Hana rolled her eyes, hugging Yuan tightly, burying her forehead into his neck and shaking her head.

"No...they need to find the passwords...you know I never knew them...never needed to." she informed. Neviros ran over to Yuan, and clasped onto his leg.

"Papa, I missed you." she murmured, and Yuan smiled at her with loving eyes.

"I missed you too." he sighed, and Hana bent down to pick Neviros up, and allowing both parents to hug their child.

"I wish I could have done this when you were a baby..." Yuan sighed, kissing Neviros' Animus Crystal. Nevrios sighed in a manner so similar to Yuan's, it was no surprise that she was his daughter.

"Yeah...I wish you could have been there too...but I was hounded by Dirk and Lloyd afterwards...Dirk still doesn't know that I'm an angel, just a Shade...so he was extremely concerned whenever I would leave when I wasn't pregnant..." Hana agreed. "And taking Neviros was just out of the question...it would be a bit too odd if I was taking an infant across the desert all by myself...and for what reason, you know?"

"I know...but it still makes me wonder why I didn't just teleport over." Yuan shrugged.

"Because it actually makes noise to do so. You were just so wrapped up in your book to have noticed that I had teleported inside." Hana grinned. Yuan kissed Hana for a few short seconds, having missed her chiding jests. They were cut short by Neviros making an immature gagging noise. She was only nine, and you have to expect such a thing.

"Well...I suppose that you're here for the Rheairds..." Yuan sighed, closing his eyes.

"How did you know?" Neviros asked.

"There's a traitor amongst your allies. In respect, I won't say who, but I'd be wary." Yuan informed, causing Hana to close her eyes, and hold Yuan more tightly to herself. Neviros ended up squished in between the two. Yuan and Hana blushed, and let the small interbreed down to explore the room.

"I don't want to think of traitors. Every single time there's a traitor, someone dies. I'm don't want to keep seeing these people die...not like this...Not like how...Anna did..." Hana buried her head into Yuan's chest and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to think about how Anna had died, but Kratos had betrayed Cruxis...Yuan had betrayed Cruxis...Hana had betrayed Cruxis, and Anna, the one who had nothing to do with it, was the victim.

"I know...I know." Yuan comforted, stroking the back of her head. He remembered the human that they had trusted...the one that killed Martel. Yuan held onto Hana more tightly, and whispered, "I just hope it's not you who they take for it."

"Not like Martel, you mean." Hana corrected, knowing that Yuan was still haunted by the fact that he could have done something. He could have protected his lover, but was unable to because he didn't know. Yuan sighed. Hana could read him like a book, even better than the book Yuan had read over and over for four-thousand years. Better than Martel was ever able to.

"How can you read me so well?" he asked, smiling.

"I ran, remember?" Hana asked, recalling upon the day they had met. Hana was also someone who had run, and because of that, she was able to relate.

"Oh...right." Yuan sighed. "But yes...I don't want you to die like Martel. Not at the hands of a traitor..."

"You're the only traitor I know...besides me and Kratos...and I wouldn't kill myself, and you and Kratos wouldn't kill me either...I should hope, at least." Hana grinned brightly.

"No...I would never let you get hurt." Yuan smiled back, kissing Hana's Cruxis Crystal. Hana winced, the fear still inflicted into her memories. "Sorry...I keep forgetting that this scares you." Yuan apologized.

"It's okay. I'm not as scared when it's you." Hana smiled back, placing her lips on Yuan's. "You know, I wish that Neviros was with the others at the moment." she grinned, raising an eyebrow. Yuan rolled his eyes.

"Nymphomaniac." he retorted.

"Don't act like you don't like it! And besides, nine whole years, NINE! And no sex! I'm going crazy here!" Hana exclaimed.

"You're fifty..." Yuan trailed off, laughing at how Hana smacked him.

"And yet I still have the body of a twenty-eight year old..." she replied, wrapping a leg around Yuan's waits, giggling at the blush.

"You tempt me, but I bet the alarms are going to go off at any second now." he replied, fighting back the red-ness in his cheeks.

"Fine, but I'll still be here after you get your ass kicked by the others." Hana rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean, 'get my ass kicked'?" Yuan protested.

"It's you and Botta, against seven other people. One of them can heal the others, but no one is there to heal you...you see what I mean?" Hana balanced.

"Fine...I'll be beaten to a pulp..." Yuan admitted.

"Not a pulp...pulps aren't sexy, and aren't fun to fuck." Hana grinned savagely.

"Fine, I'll quit before I get too hurt." Yuan grinned back.

"And I'll be here to kiss all of your injuries better." Hana nodded, her wide grin turning into a perverted smirk.

"C'mon Neviros!" Yuan called out to his daughter. Neviros ran to him, and he grasped her hand.

"Where are we going?" Neviros asked curiously. "And why isn't Mama coming?"

"Well...I don't really need like going to see Rodyle at the moment...you see...I just didn't like the way he womanized people...fucking asshole." Hana muttered, remembering the man who she unfortunately shared a hair color with.

"Well, let's get going. I'll take you to Lloyd and the others, and Hana will join you later." Yuan smiled at Neviros, and the blue-haired nodded, smiling brightly.

"Yeah! Bye Mama!"

"Bye, Neviros!"

And the two were gone. Hana sat on Yuan's bed, picking at the bedsheets.

"Hmm...well..." Hana grinned, and stripped down...

In the Rheaird Room

Yuan and Neviros appeared next to Botta, and on cue, Lloyd and the rest burst inside.

"So you've come li-"

"Lloyd!" Neviros exclaimed, running to Lloyd, and hugging him tightly.

"Ha-ha-hey..." Lloyd laughed, out of breath by the force of Neviros' literal bear hug.

"Well...she cut you off." Zelos grinned at Yuan, who scowled.

"Papa was going to say another cheesy line...Mama says that Papa does that because he's crazy and easily bored." Neviros informed, giggling.

"Well...aside from all this, you won't get past..." Yuan declared.

"Eh...where's Hana?" Sheena asked, looking around. Yuan was quiet for a good three minutes, wondering how to reply. That Hana was in his room, wondering just how to pounce when he came back? Or that she was going to a very good nurse, healing him very effectively? Or that Hana was lying on his bed, wearing practically nothing. With each possibility, Yuan began to grin widely.

"Hey, we're supposed to be fighting, and you're off in la la land, grinning about something we don't even know about!" Genis exclaimed. Zelos only shook his head. He got it right away...

"Genis, you'll understand when you're older." he informed, and drew out his sword. Yuan pulled out his large weapon, but only one thought was in his mind.

_'Should I let myself get pretty hurt?'_

It was very confusing as to why Yuan was fighting with a huge grin on his face. Even after he had lost, he only grinned, and replied,

"Should I have let myself get more injured?" before teleporting off with a wide grin on his face.

"Oh gosh...I get it now..." Sheena blushed, and rushing onto a Rheaird. Botta sighed in frustration.

"I don't like it when he does this. The paperwork gets pushed back weeks, hell, it gets pushed off the table! Nothing gets done, everyone thinks that Lord Yuan has died, and he can't even go around afterwards because he's limping whenever he walks!" Everyone, except Neviros and Genis, understood, and grabbed a Rheaird and flew out.

_It was no surprise to Hana when Yuan was more beat up than he should be, and even less of one when Hana returned to the others, limping. After this, they would go save Colette...once Hana stopped limping..._

Purest Shadows: Well, this chapter was full of perversion...not that I mind...it was funny. Anyway, I think that this chapter would make this rated 'M'...if it was more descriptive than the simple nearly naked-ness. Hmmm...If I write why Hana and Yuan were limping in a sub-story...hehe...well...that might never make it onto the internet...


	18. Feverish Memories

Purest Shadows: Well...chappie eighteen ish here!!!

Chapter Eighteen: Feverish Memories

_With Hana's legs back in tip-top shape, the group would all be going to save Colette. From what they had heard, there was a strange floating object in the sky east of Altamira. It could only be Rodyle...it had to be...it it wasn't then what could they do? And even so, there were some things that still needed to be discussed..._

"...I don't want to go...I'll go back to the Tethe'alla Base, and you guys can go on without me..." Hana closed her eyes, moving away from the others.

"Huh? Why not?" Zelos asked, grinning.

"Because I don't like Rodyle...we have a bad history..." Hana replied, shaking her head. "That bastard...he tried to kill Anna when we were in Derris-Kharlan...I almost killed him for it too..." she sighed.

"Oh...well...that would explain a lot." Raine nodded.

"And then tried to kill me when I was pregnant with Neviros...which was the last time I saw him...the bastard...all I did was pierce a hole through his skull, and he tries to kill me, and Neviros, who wasn't even born at the time!" Hana burst out. The others sweatdropped.

"You made a hole through his skull..." Lloyd trailed off.

"Just through the top! I didn't hit his brain!" Hana exclaimed in innocence. "All I did was poke a hole there, and now he's bald in that spot..." Hana began to snicker, "Which is why he has the horrendous over comb..."

"Oh...that's why his hairdo is so damn weird..." Sheena nodded.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not going to go there. There's no reason..." Hana crossed her arms, and phased so no one could grab her. Neviros, however, phased as well, and grabbed Hana's arm.

"I can still grab you." Neviros grinned.

"And wouldn't you like to finish the job? After all, you never got to finish off Kvar...Kratos did..." Genis faltered. Kratos got to finish off Kvar...he killed one of his subordinates...what kind of a leader did that? Hana laughed a little.

"Yeah...Kratos did get to...the lucky bastard..." she chuckled. "But fine...I'll go, but we have to go tomorrow...camp here for one night...I need to sort things out..."

"Fine..." Lloyd agreed, and everyone set up camp.

"Who's going to take watch?" Regal asked.

"I'll do it...don't need sleep." Hana laughed sadly and stood up, walking into the distance. The others nodded, and fell asleep. "Hey...you two can come out now." Hana called out into the trees. From one side, Yuan showed up, and from another, Kratos did.

"Hello, Hana." Kratos greeted, setting up a hearth close to the one by the others. "Fireball!" he chanted lightly, and the twigs inside set ablaze.

"Heh...just like old times." Yuan sighed, sitting next to the fire.

"If only..." Hana laughed sadly, looking at the other fire. "We can't do this out in open..." Yuan wrapped an arm around Hana's shoulder, kissing her temple.

"It's okay...at least the three of us get to do this, after all." he smiled. Kratos nodded.

"True...But it doesn't matter...we will all end up going to the same place in the end." he sighed.

"You mean to hell, or not dying at all?" Yuan asked, raising an eyebrow. Kratos silenced himself, leaving his brooding thoughts to his own self. "Thought so."

"You guys, don't argue! We're all here on friendly terms, because we are friends, right?" Hana asked, looking to the sky. "We're here because we wanted to reminisce."

"Yeah, like old times." Kratos agreed.

"Remember the last time we were able to do this?" Hana asked, recalling upon the memory fondly, though wincing at the same time.

"How could I forget? Yuan got sick, and we had to take him to Flanoir..."

_Fifteen years ago_

"_His fever isn't going down!!" Kratos exclaimed hurriedly .He was carrying Yuan on his back, flying to Flanoir. Hana was flying under them, just in case Yuan slipped off._

"_C'mon...be okay..." Hana whispered to her boyfriend, not wanting the fever to get any higher. Hana couldn't even touch Yuan's forehead to check the temperature, the last attempt resulted in alight blistering._

"_...Where are we...it's so...cold..." Yuan moaned, shivering terribly._

"_Dammit...this means his fever's only going up...this can kill him, even if he is a seraphim!" Kratos exclaimed._

"_Then we've gotta hurry!" Hana exclaimed, as Yuan fell of Kratos' back, and into Hana's arms. The Shade hissed pain, but wouldn't let go, no matter how much it burned. "C'mon...you'll be alright...How the hell did he get this sick? I thought that angels didn't get sick!"_

"_Not even the gods are immortal." Kratos replied. "Yuan never had a good immune system, especially during the Kharlan War, when diseased flew around faster than the plague."_

"_Oh...Dammit, be okay..." Hana whispered, her voice strained and cracked, as Kratos lifted Yuan out her arms, reliving the burning sensations. "Thanks..."_

"_Hana...where's Hana?" Yuan moaned, straining to open his green eyes. The cold arms cradling him were gone, but Yuan knew those arms so well...where were they? Hana flew to where Yuan was, her eyes sad and soft. She gently placed a hand on his forehead, trying to get used to the burn, but it pained her to take it off.._

"_I'm right here...Don't worry...you'll be fine..." she soothed, feeling her skin blistering. "I won't let you die, okay?" Yuan tried to look for the source of the soft voice, though it was normally loud and angry. He couldn't see her, where was she?!_

"_I can't see you..." he cried out. Hana looked up to Kratos with pleading eyes, wanting to know what was wrong._

"_He's not opening his eyes...you need to stop worrying so much." Kratos informed flatly. Hana sighed, grasping Yuan's hand with hers._

"_Hana...why can't I see you?" Yuan asked. Kratos sighed, Yuan was delusional...His weak immune system would really be the death of him..._

"_Open your eyes..." Hana replied, still feeling the sting of his heated body. "And you need to eat more vegetables, your body can't handle getting sick anymore..." Kratos stared at Hana with mild wonder. Wasn't it Yuan who usually took the role of 'Mother Hen' as Hana called it? It was interesting, so see the role reversal. Yuan tried to open his eyes, and was able to see the blurry image of a red-haired man and a pale woman flying with him._

"_What's going on?" he asked quietly. It hurt to move, it hurt to speak...why did it hurt so much?!_

"_Sshh...don't speak...you need your energy. We're almost to Flanoir." Kratos informed, as the trio descended upon a snowy ground, half a mile away from the flourishing city. They ran in silence, Yuan in Kratos' arms, Hana always checking his temperature, and Yuan hanging on to life by a mere spider's silk. Finally, the angels made it inside Flanoir, racing even faster into the Doctor's Clinic._

"_Welco- Martel!!" the doctor ((A/N: Someone tell me what his name is...)) exclaimed. Kratos set Yuan down on a bed, where he was promptly examined. "Hmm...it's an abnormally high fever, but it's a fever, nonetheless." Pulling out some simple medicine, he handed it to Hana. "Give him that every six hours for two days, and he should get better."_

"_Thank you." Hana nodded, and pulled out a small sack of gald, probably holding three-thousand gald. "Keep the change." she informed, and Kratos carried Yuan out. They rented a small inn room, where Kratos and Hana tended to the other man. Kratos tilted Yuan's head up, as Hana poured a tablespoonful of the yellow liquid into Yuan's slightly open mouth._

"_Swallow it." Kratos ordered Yuan, upon seeing him not really respond. There was a slight movement where Yuan's throat was, showing that he had done so._

"_Yuck." he croaked._

"_It's your fault for getting so damn sick!" Hana shouted at Yuan, standing up."You worried us, and you could have almost died!!"_

"_It isn't like you to care." Yuan replied, shivering from the cold._

"_Shut up! I do care! I've always cared, dammit! For the sake of all things edible, I've never stopped caring!!" Hana almost slapped the half-elf, if not for the fact that he was sick._

"_Hana, calm down...Yuan just likes pushing your buttons. He's likes pushing everyones' buttons, even if he's sick...did it to Martel all the time." Kratos informed stoically. He was just trying to hide his worry, and doing it well._

"_Fine." Hana replied, and sat back down on a chair. Resting her head on the nearby table, she forced herself into a meditative sleep, waiting for the next morning to come._

_By three days, Yuan had gotten better, as he sat up from the bed. Looking at Kratos, who was standing by the window, Yuan assumed Kratos was thinking of Anna and their son, Lloyd. Didn't he leave them behind in the care of a House of Salvation before coming here?_

_Kratos must have noticed Yuan's inquisitive stare, for he turned to face him and spoke the soft words,_

"_Your attention should be focused on her." and Yuan looked to where Hana was, lying on the sheets next to Yuan. Her eyes were wide open, staring at Yuan with a soft gaze. The couple made eye contact, but nothing was spoken. Until Hana finally whispered three amazed words,_

"_...You got better."_

_Present_

Hana promptly slapped Yuan across the face.

"That was for making me worry, shit head...Ahhh...that felt _so_ good." she laughed cheerfully. "Finally, after fifteen years, I can slap you for that stupid comment."

"Hey! I was delusional, and sick!" Yuan exclaimed. "And I recall _you _saying something just like that when you were drunk, so that slap was unnecessary."

"And yet...I can't remember it, so in my book, it doesn't count!!!" Hana grinned maniacally.

"I wonder if Neviros will become more like you two as she grows older. Angry, bullheaded, and crazy with a love of teasing people..." Kratos sighed.

"You worry...that's such a loving uncle for you there!" Yuan teased lightly.

"No, he just hopes she gets all our bad qualities because of how I said how Lloyd was stupid like him...Kratos, you Lloyd got his stupidity from you." Hana smirked, and Kratos glowered at her.

"It's true...you're only as smart as you are know because your brain is filled with four-thousand years of nothing but mistakes." Yuan added, completely agreeing with his wife. He soon began to list many things explaining why so, including the infamous, "Especially during the Kharlan War, when you were caught by half-elven farmers, and nearly pelted to death by tomatoes...I'll never forget that day...even though I was on the same side as you, I couldn't help but throw at least five tomatoes at you."

"So that's why you hate tomatoes so much...now I have to remember this for blackmail..." Hana grinned. "But then...how did Lloyd inherit _that_?"

"Humans...they're weird." Yuan replied, shrugging. There was a sudden rustling in the bushes, as a flash of silver hair was seen darting away.

"You guys stay here...it's not good if you two get too close." Hana stated, and briskly walked after the running figure. Once close enough, Hana phased past the intruder, asking, "Genis, what were you doing?"

"Hana! Well, I heard laughter, and two familiar voices, so I went to see who they were. I saw you, Kratos, and Yuan...I only heard Yuan say, _'Humans...they're weird.'_. Why were you talking with them, or at least Kratos?" Genis asked accusingly.

"I have my friends, and I talk to them whenever I see fit." Hana crossed her arms, amazed at how Genis had the audacity to ask such a question. "We haven't done so in fifteen years...you expect me to pass an opprotunity to meet with them, just the three of us?!"

"I guess not..."

"Exactly. Now go to bed. Raine won't like it if she sees you up at this hour."

"But it's almost dawn...I get up at this time to make breakfast..."

"Eh?" Hana looked up at the sky to see it slowly lightening. "Shit, gotta get back to them...they're leaving soon. Genis, go cook your food." Hana ushered Genis back to the campsite, and ran back to where Kratos and Yuan waited.

"Well..we have to part ways again..." Kratos sighed.

"Don't we always?" Hana asked, laughing bitterly.

"Of course. We're not on the same side anymore." Yuan answered, going over to hug Hana tightly. It seemed as if he didn't want to let go...of course he didn't. When Yuan finally let go, he and Kratos spread out their wings. Hana followed suit, and held out her hand, it glowing with the usual purple mana found from Shades.

"You know, I am going to miss you guys when this is all over..." she spoke softly. Kratos covered his hand in blue mana, Yuan in green. The three hands met, and the mana mixed into a white.

"It's not like we won't see each other again later on." Kratos replied, feeling unsure with his words.

"Don't lie to me." Hana hissed, "We'll meet again on this journey, of course we will...but after this is over-all of it- we're going to have to part ways." Hana's words seemed like riddles to Yuan and Kratos, for Yuan didn't know of Kratos' plans, nor did Kratos know of Yuan's.

"Why?" Yuan asked, the white glow still going strong.

"You don't expect things to remain intact with who is taking the journey on, do you?" Hana asked. The thought of Ronoia came to mind, and if it would still be okay.

"...No, not at all." Kratos agreed solemnly. He was the first to remove his hand, and teleport back to Derris-Kharlan. The glow went from white to a soft maroon.

"You have a point...I just hope we don't have to split up forever. I love you, and I don't want to never see you again." Yuan sighed.

"I love you too, and this is why it's so sad..." Hana replied. Yuan removed his hand, and teleported away, causing the maroon to turn purple.

Kratos left, then Yuan left. And once again, all that was left was Hana, who would simply wait for their return.

_Genis spoke nothing of his findings, trusting Hana that she was not a traitor like Kratos. When Hana returned, he merely smiled, though it faltered at the sight of Hana's distraught expression. She was left behind, just like when Kratos left Yggdrasil completely, then Yuan and his double-agency, and finally Hana, who was always the last, trying to play catch-up in their twisted game of follow the leader._


	19. The Sky Trap

Purest Shadows: Yep…finally a chapter nineteen…This is taking me a while because I have three other projects, aside from this series…an original story that includes Shades (Now going under the name of Reliu in that novel. (Which is also where you'll see the original concept for 'Hana' or as her name in the novel is, 'Loraia' and a few other races.) Oh, as a side note did I ever mention that Hana and Anna had Scottish accents? I'm weird, but that's how I saw them…

Anyway, thanks for putting up with me!

Disclaimer: Do I have to put this in every chapter? Oh fine, I do not own Tales of Symphonia, nor anything related to it. I own the Shades, Hana, and Neviros (though not her name.) Oh, and Ronoia too.

Chapter Nineteen: The Sky Trap

_In the skies close to Altamira, there was a strange object floating in the sky. It had to be Rodyle! It just had to be, because if it truly was him, Colette would be there as well…and Lloyd would do almost anything to get Colette back now…_

"So, since we've got the Rheairds, Volt to power them up, and the possible location of where Rodyle is keeping Colette, let's go get her!" Lloyd exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. He was so ready to take on Rodyle, and get Colette back. He had to!

"Heh…yeah…let's go get Colette at…Rodyle's hideout…" Hana shivered at the thought of facing Rodyle again…she pulled Neviros closer to her, even though Rodyle was nowhere near them…

"Hana…Rodyle won't hurt Neviros…" Sheena tried to console the woman, but Hana shook her head.

"How do you know? He tried to kill Neviros once, he could try again!!" Hana snapped, and held onto Neviros even more tightly.

"Mama…we'll be fine…" the small girl replied. Hana shook her head, as if she couldn't believe that. "But it doesn't matter! We've got to get Colette, so we have to go anyway." her hold on Neviros loosened as her daughter slipped out of her arms. _'I know it's hard to let go, but…why does this feel so hard?'_

It wasn't very long before the party had flown to the floating island. When there, they saw Colette within a cage, and a strange orange glow beneath her.

"Colette!" Lloyd shouted, as he ran forth to try and reach her.

"No, stop! It's a trap!!" Colette shouted back, and Lloyd stopped in mid-step.

"W-w-what?" he asked.

"A trap. It figures that Rodyle would create such a ruse to get us here." Raine nodded her head a bit angrily. Rodyle then approached the group, as an infuriated Presea drew her axe.

"You will pay for using me! Let Colette go!" she hissed and struck the man down, only to have the image of Rodyle disappear.

"An…illusion?" she asked. Rodyle appeared, a bit farther from Presea's striking range, as he laughed maniacally,

"Take the Chosen! I can now see why Lord Yggdrasil left her alone. Worthless girl."

"Worthless?!" Lloyd shouted, half in rage, half in confusion.

"That's right. A sinful Chosen like that is completely useless for my Mana Cannon. She can't even save the world. She can't merge with Martel. She even puts her friends in danger. What a pathetic Chosen." Rodyle glowered at Colette. Presea charged at him again, and like the time before, Rodyle's image faded and appeared elsewhere.

"Stop blaming Colette for things she did not do!"

"Indeed. It is enough that I alone have to bear the burden of sin. You and I are the epitome of sin! I'll drag you down to hell with me!" Regal bowed his head in anger, at himself, but mostly Rodyle.

"No…You don't get to drag him to hell, because I'm going to beat you to it." Hana hissed, her wings spread out, beating angrily. Rodyle only took notice of Hana then.

"So it's true. There were rumors in Derris-Kharlan that you were alive. And your child…I'm surprised that she is alive too." he sneered. Hana held onto Neviros protectively and snapped,

"You'll leave her alone or I'll tear your heart out." Rodyle only laughed.

"You silly beings and your jokes. Why would I take the word of a traitor? You are weak for running." he retorted. Hana looked down, knowing the words were true. A strong person wouldn't have ran…

"You leave her alone!" Lloyd shouted, "That's it. You're going down!!" he drew his sword, but Rodyle laughed and shook his head.

"Everyone, please run!" Colette cried out, but it was too late. The heads of dragons were appearing, and a few baby dragons had descended on the miniscule platform.

"Have fun feasting on these fools, my darlings." Rodyle laughed as he flew away on one of the dragon's back.

"Don't try to fight them!! Run!!" Colette screamed.

"Our chances of evasion on this tiny platform; One percent." Presea announced, a sick feeling entering her stomach and clenching it together.

"I don't want to die. And if I do, I'm going down fighting!" Zelos announced, drawing his sword.

"That's right." Neviros agreed, and broke out of Hana's arms. She pulled out her slingshot in one hand, and a few exploding shots in the other. "We'll have a better chance of survival if we fight, right Presea?" she asked the older girl with a bright grin.

"And all we have to do is kill them before they kill us." Lloyd gave Neviros an identical grin, and the two nodded.

"I'm not going to become a part of the food chain willingly." Regal also had a grin on his face, the confident energy from Lloyd, Neviros, and Zelos passing on to him.

"Okay then! Let's do this." Genis finalized, as the battle began. The dragons were surprisingly easy to fight, with all nine people battling them.

"Hehe, we're ganging up on them." Neviros grinned maniacally, charging into a baby dragon as a baby dragon herself towards Sheena.

"Talk about irony." Sheena laughed at Neviros' attack , knocking another dragon back towards Hana.

"No need to talk about it, just do it!" the woman cried out with an ecstatic giggle, cracking that dragon's wing and throwing it off the platform.

"Your confidence is such a comfort, especially since you've already taken down one dragon!" Raine exclaimed, while casting Nurse on the party. She watched as another helpless baby dragon was thrown off the platform, plummeting into the ground.

"I can't help but feel bad for them, though." Neviros added, though her attacks did not lessen. "You know, I can turn into them, and that makes them family, somewhat." she shot an exploding star into a dragon's eye, causing it to revert back into it's hole and appear out of another, in time for Genis to strike it down with Thunder Blade.

"Well, they're still enemies, and we've got to bring them down." Genis replied. That response caused Hana to pause for a moment, which caused her to get knocked back, and off the platform.

"Oww! Son of a bitch!!" she cursed, and stopped in midair, flying back to the platform. Those words though…what about Kratos and Lloyd? They would eventually fight again…but Hana shook her head and flew back to the platform, stabbing the dragon that knocked her down with Ice Spear.

_If they're going to fight, then you will surely fight Lloyd too…_

Hana shook the thoughts out of her head, kicking a dragon in the head.

**But I'm not his enemy!**

She ignored the thoughts pressing into her mind, and went to catch Sheena, who had just been tossed off the platform.

_But if you side with Kratos in secret, how are you to say you're not?_

**Shut up!! If I ally both sides I'm an enemy to none!**

_And at the same time, the enemy of them all._

Hana dropped Sheena onto the platform, where she gracefully landed on top of a dragon, in time to summon Celcius against it. Lost in her thoughts, and trying to get rid of them at the same time resulted in her growing angry, and angrier, and finally, extremely agitated. When a dragon knocked her back, again, she shouted

"Dammit! I'm just going to end this, now!" the others all paused to stare at Hana, as she held her hands together, floating back onto the ground.

"What is Hana going to do?" Regal asked the question everyone was thinking. Her wings were spread out, as she chanted,

"_Master of the heavens, your light smites the corrupted ones, smack them down, bitches! Judgement!"_

(A/N: I know Judgement is a very serious attack in the game, but I seriously can't imagine Hana saying a huge attack like that WITHOUT saying something crude…forgive me, I couldn't resist!)

Everyone sweat dropped at how crude Hana managed to make Judgement sound. Suddenly, white columns of light began to fall from the sky, striking all the dragons. And the platform. Even though they had managed to defeat the dragons, the platform was shaking, and beginning to fall. The orange glow under Colette began to glow even brighter, and increased.

"What's this…light?" Neviros asked confusedly, unable to pull away.

"It threatens to engulf us…" Regal commented.

"This is all YOUR fault!" Lloyd shouted at Hana heatedly.

"Oh yeah?! Watch me smack you down too!" Hana spat back, though was unable to get close enough to Lloyd to strike him.

"It's coming from Colette!" Raine exclaimed. "This was truly a well executed trap on the part of Rodyle..."

"Well I'm not dying here now…but ugh! We can't move!" Zelos whined, trying to lift his feet. And amidst all the frantic screaming, a small voice was heard.

"I'm sorry…" the frenzied shouts ceased, and all eyes were on Colette.

"Colette…none of this is your fault." Lloyd sighed. Colette shook her head.

"It is! I'm just a useless Chosen who can't save her friends…" she whispered, but it was something everyone heard, loud and clear. Colette had every right to think this way…not that it was true, but she had been told she failed. It was natural that she thought like this…

Incorrect, but natural.

"…Colette…that's not true. What Rodyle wanted was wrong, and if he could use you, then you'd be in the wrong, and not even accountable then! You're innocent of any wrongdoing, don't even fool yourself by saying that." Presea retorted, as her body moved against the restraints, and lifted her massive axe into the air.

"No, don't do it!" Colette cried out, but Presea's axe was already crashing down onto the barrier, as it shattered. The force threw the platform to the earth, south of Gnome's temple. The force knocked everyone unconscious, save for Colette, who had taken the least damage, not tired form fighting the dragons.

And yet again, she began to wallow in her wrongly placed guilt.

"…It's all my fault…" she whispered, the blue orbs on her face filling with tears. If she hadn't been captured, she wouldn't have had to be saved…and none of this would have happened…

If she was stronger, she'd be able to get out herself, and escape like how Lloyd had done before! Colette couldn't be strong like Lloyd…as much as she desired it, coveted it, craved it…she was unable to do such a thing…

"I wish I was stronger…I wish they didn't have to deal with me like this…" Colette murmured, shaking her head, over and over.

But there was one other person who was conscious…or at least slowly gaining it.

"Come on, my little angel. You can't feel bad all the time."

"Zelos?"

"Who else?" the red-haired man grinned. It was definitely Zelos, who was now resting his arm around Colette's shoulders. "You can't feel bad. It's the Chosen's destiny to die, but you don't have to be like that…You can be different. Look at all this…" Colette wouldn't look at her companions, the ones Zelos were indicating to.

"…I betrayed them…" she shook her head. Zelos grinned at Colette skeptically.

"Tell me how." upon receiving no answer, he tilted Colette's chin up to look at her comrades. "Look at them. I doubt there has ever been a Chosen with comrades-no, not even-friends who are as loyal to them as these people are to you. They did this for you. Because you're worth protecting. You're not useless. You're the Chosen that not only Cruxis chose, but that the people chose. Your friends chose to protect you."

Colette closed her eyes, tearing her gaze away from the others.

"But…I…"

"Did absolutely nothing wrong." Zelos would have continued to persuade Colette into feeling better, but there was a moving noise amongst the others. He paused, and smiled at Colette comfortingly. Colette's mouth curved into a weak smile, and she replied,

"You sound as if you've had to do this before."

"Well, I've seen what the others are willing to do for you. And I know any person around me wouldn't do the same." he looked thoughtful for a moment, and added, "I suppose that older siblings could always have that insight, I mean, look at the Professor, and Miss Hana. Even Presea, who says she has a younger sister. And with the things she can say, I'd believe her."

With that, Zelos went back to where he was lying, giving off the impression that he had was still unconscious like the others. The next person to awaken was Hana, her recovery always the fastest due to her Shade blood, and the Cruxis Crystal. Hana, however, was always a lazy bones when waking up, and waited for the others first.

After her, was Genis, who always rose early to cook delectable meals for himself and others. He sat up, and moved to awaken the others, starting with Raine. Soon, everyone else was awake, save for one.

"Presea…" Colette murmured. The pink-headed child was still knocked out, her face distorted in pain from the blow-the likes of which she had taken the worse. Everyone was crowded around her as Raine was trying to heal her.

And Presea opened her eyes.

_It was a comfort to know that Presea was okay-though shocking that her only concern was for Colette. And even though she was still hurt, the child had smiled. It was worth it for everyone to see that. And as they sat around another campfire, things were returning to normality. Except the nagging thought in Colette's head._

_How did Zelos awaken the first?_


	20. Sorcerer's Ring Pastimes

Purest Shadows: Ah yes, since we're going over Gnome's summoning…I wanted to comment on the whole only four people fight in each battle thing. You know, since Gnome mentions it and all. And many of the spoofs here have to do with the Sorcerer's Ring, haha.

And sorry for the really long update. I don't know if I'll finish this, but I'll try my best!

Disclaimer: Arrgh…I want to own Tales of Symphonia…if I did, I would totally have re-written it so Kratos did NOT leave in Derris-Kharlan. Though I think I may do that in this one, just for perks of writing fan fiction.

Chapter Twenty: Sorcerer's Ring Pastimes

_All suspicious thoughts on Colette's part was quickly brushed aside as the group traveled over Tethe'alla searching for more summons. Gnome's temple was closest, and in all sensibility, they headed there first._

The temple had many layers and looked quite unstable, but as usual, Lloyd and Neviros were bouncing around with childlike glee.

"Wow! Hey, lets see what happens when we use the Sorcerer's Ring here!" Neviros exclaimed, bounding off and activating it. From above, a cave worm appeared, and an irritated Hana wrapped a whip around it and tossed it into a crevice. Tapping Neviros on the nose, the child winced and rubbed it, "Mama, I only turn into a dog, I am not one!" Hana sighed, and set the little girl down.

"Anyway, where would gnome be?" Sheena asked, looking around.

"Up?" Lloyd suggested curiously. Raine looked above them and only saw the ceiling of the cavern. She shook her head, "Ahead?" Lloyd asked again. Raine shook her head once more, after observing the path ahead of them. "Down? To the left?…To the right?…Ahead then up?!…TELL ME ALREADY, I GIVE UP!!!" Lloyd went on his hands and knees, begging Raine for the answer.

"SHUT UP!" Sheena shouted at Lloyd and smacked him. Slightly dazed, Lloyd shook his head and exclaimed,

"Let's go ahead!"

"We're going to die, aren't we?"

"No Genis, we're just going to get stuck somewhere. This is such a trial, following Lloyd..."

"Oh, I see. It is."

"I heard that!"

The squabbles continued until the group reached a small gnome, asking for some food. Something spicy…

"Uhh…how's about we make it really hot, like turn up the heat way up high?" Lloyd asked, shrugging.

"You people know nothing about cooking…" Genis shook his head in a pained manner, wondering how he was around such horrible cooks.

"If it helps, I do know a certain spicy curry." Regal suggested and everyone looked at him.

"Then let's taste it! I'm sure it's delicious!" Colette smiled ecstatically. With Colette's reassuring words, Regal nodded and everyone went off around to wait for him to finish. As they were waiting, Neviros was still messing around with the Sorcerer's Ring.

"Lookie! It's making stones fall!" she giggled happily, skipping past the boulders that rolled past, and chased Lloyd.

"He-H-Hey!!!" Lloyd screamed as he ran past, Genis watching him with a blank stare.

"This happens every day?" Presea asked him. Genis was too nonchalant to even note Presea's presence and replied,

"It's more than every day." Presea nodded to herself and made a mental note to avoid Neviros whenever she had the Sorcerer's Ring. After all, Lloyd was still running from the many boulders that the beast-like girl had avalanched.

"Mama, look at Lloyd run!" Neviros giggled, pointing at Lloyd, who ran back and forth, trying to avoid being pancaked. Hana stared at the boy, then grabbed a whip and, grabbed Lloyd out of the way by his neck.

"A-a-ack!" Lloyd choked, but watched as the boulder fell into an abyss. After a few seconds, they heard a crash.

"So there _is_ a bottom…" Hana mused. Her blank expression turned sadistic as she looked at Lloyd and grinned, "So if I threw you down, we'd be able to get your mangled body. Good. Anna would kill me I the afterlife if I let you die."

"But…you'd…already be…dead." Lloyd struggled to get the whip off his neck, and lost in her musings, Hana merely dragged Lloyd along unknowingly. Much to her unnoticed neglect, Lloyd's face was growing blue…

"It's done!" Regal called out, and everyone gathered round, Lloyd released from the restraints around his neck.

"…How did you make this?" Lloyd eyed the food warily, going from it to Regal's chained hands.

"Isn't it obvious? He took off his shackles!" Zelos quipped brightly only to get a heavy glower from Regal shot at him. "Well if angry looks could kill…" he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets, not helping in the passing out of plates and the such.

"Then you made them with your hands? How? That must have been really hard." Sheena commented rather than make an absurd statement like Zelos had.

"Actually, I used my feet." Regal explained. The ladle used to pour the curry into the plates had stopped. This was the kind of statement Sheena was avoiding…but it showed up anyway.

"Really?!" Genis spluttered.

"I was joking…" Regal added weakly. Apparently these people were thick as Meltokio's walls or he was just bad as telling jokes. His blue eyes went from one person to another, then decided it must have been a combination of both.

"Well it's hard to tell!" Neviros exclaimed indignantly. "You're always so serious, and you aren't even making any sign that you were joking!"

Indeed, it must have been both. Lloyd was still eyeing the curry warily even though Regal had admitted to the joke himself.

"Well let's just eat now. " Raine shook her head. Her eyebrows twitched involuntarily at the through of eating foot-prepared food, but if Regal said it was a joke, then it must have been.

But was that part the joke?

Regardless, the gnome gobbled down most of the curry anyway.

"Hmm…this is spicy?" he asked looking at his empty hands.

"He ate our plate…" Raine murmured, more worried about the lack of one of her plates from home.

"Yes, it's spicy!" Neviros growled at the gnome, and took a bite out of her own curry. Her face quickly grew red, as she began changing into numerous animals to find one with a lack of sensitivity to it.

"Yes, it's spicy!" the gnome mimicked Neviros and moved aside for them to pass. Regal packed up the rest of his curry, lest another gnome wanted it. Hana bent down to pick her spazzed daughter up and shook her head.

"Poor girl…" she sighed, carrying the tiny child on her back. "I hope that you don't go to Ronoia soon…it's all spicy vegetables there." she teased and Neviros twitched at the thought of more spicy food.

The path continued to wind down the crevice, making their way to the bottom. They were met with a large dragon, much to everyone's distaste. Edging away, they continued to the seal, avoiding the creature completely.

Needless to say, Gnome was rather offensive.

"You guys look like such a lame bunch." he yawned once hearing Sheena's 'opener'. Zelos stifling a snicker.

"Oh, shut up, you big brat." Hana snapped and Gnome gave Hana a scrutinizing look. After a few seconds, his mouth took the shape of an 'O' and exclaimed,

"I know you! You're the woman who made the pa-"

"I know, I know." Hana cut him off and crossed her arms. "Just fight them already." she muttered and walked off.

"Oh, she wasn't lying about you. You're tactless!" Gnome laughed and Hana threw a rock at his forehead.

"Who?" Presea asked, looking at Hana.

"Oh, just someone from a while ago. It's no big deal." Hana brushed Presea's question off as Gnome stepped down to begin the battle. Genis, Hana, Neviros, Regal, Zelos and Presea sat out of the battle, watching as the rest battled Gnome.

"Whoo!! Go Lloyd!" Neviros cheered amiably, throwing a lemon gel into his face. "Apple juice?" she asked Regal, who accepted the glass and began to drink from it.

"This seems rather awkward to watch them fight…" he mumbled but Genis grinned,

"It's kind of funny, actually." as Lloyd was swatted away with Gnome's spade. "I mean, look at Gnome, then look at how he's just beating Lloyd up!" he nonchalantly threw in an apple gel to Lloyd, who by now had figured out that he and Neviros were using him for target practice and caught it in his mouth.

"Thanks!" he grinned teasingly, which resulted in Zelos throwing a pebble into his open mouth.

"Don't you love me now?" he teased back, though Zelos himself had nothing to do with the mockery. Of course, Neviros was easily excited by Zelos' actions.

"Zelos, you're fun!" she laughed merrily at his antics, happily hugging the older man's waist. Genis looked appalled at this, whereas Hana was outwardly disgusted. Inwardly, she was happy that Neviros had found someone she could call a friend.

Before this, Neviros only had Lloyd, Colette, and Genis…everyone else (who were basically considered normal) only avoided her for being a half-elf. It was a refreshing change, as Zelos picked Neviros up and tossed her in the air.

For Zelos, it was like having _her_ back. Before everything went completely wrong between them, before everything became all messy. Before then. Zelos looked at Neviros, complete adoration in his eyes. Not in the usual flirtatious façade he placed on his face, but utter adoration.

He couldn't begin anew with Neviros-she just wasn't the same person as _her_-but he could damn well not screw things up with a new opportunity. Of course, with things like that, it made Zelos seriously want to reconsider everything he had been working on till now…And once the thought struck him, Zelos set the giggling girl down, wanting to sort things out in his head once more.

Not like he could, seeing as how Gnome had been subdued.

"That wasn't fair!" Gnome cried out, "Four on one is totally cheating! Mithos did it alone!"

"You never mentioned any rules. I just had to be fighting you." Sheena grinned and Gnome sighed. Beaten by humans…in an unfair battle no less! The other summons must feel just as irritated as Gnome.

"You're such a sore loser." Hana called out to Gnome.

"You weren't fighting me! These friends of yours cheat!" Gnome whined and Hana shrugged.

"Sheena makes a better standing than you do." Regal whispered into her ear, clearly noticing that Hana didn't know how to respond to that.

"Yeah! Like Reg-oops. Sheena makes a better standing than you do!" Hana laughed at her mistake and Neviros pouted at Hana.

"Mama, you cheated just now." she crossed her arms.

"Well damn…" Hana laughed.

"Just gimme your power." Sheena spat at Gnome, rather irritated at his snarky attitude. "He's got to be just as bad as Genis…" she muttered, obtaining the ruby and Gnome's "respect".

"Finally, none of that 'thy' and 'thou' mumbo jumbo! Now we're talking!" Gnome laughed before fading away in a few sparkles.

"So…we've still got quite a few more summons to go. We should rest up before heading out for the next one." Raine advised. Everyone appreciated Raine's sensibility and therefore agreed with her wholeheartedly.

They camped outside the seal of the closest summon, Celsius. Flanoir was extremely brisk that day, causing everyone to spend their time indoors. With the exception of Hana, who wasn't too affected by the cold. Neviros had tried to drag everyone else outside, but when she found that it was a bit too cold for her as well, she went back inside.

"Mama, how long will you be gone?" Neviros asked and Hana looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I don't know. Whenever I feel like coming back inside, I guess." she responded, pointing to her Cruxis Crystal. There was no need for her to sleep…walking away, Hana muttered to herself, "I miss my dreams…that poor beaver with the chess board must be missing me…" ((A/N: I don't own that sleeping pill commercial reference either…))

Inside, the atmosphere was a little somber with Zelos not really saying much. In fact, he was as far away from the windows as possible, and avoided looking at them. Was it the windows he didn't want to see, or what was outside of it? Either way, it was too quiet outside, so Lloyd and Genis stood up to face the cold themselves. Outside, they spotted Hana talking to someone hidden behind a tree.

"Hana, you should tell them to stop this. You don't know what will happen once all the pacts are made!" the unseen person persuaded.

"And do you know?" Hana questioned in response. "No, you don't, so I'm going to go with them and take this chance." the other person sighed. Lloyd and Genis saw a hand move to Hana's shoulder, and the woman brushed it off.

"What about Ronoia?" the other person, determined to be a male by his deep voice, asked.

"…Ronoia will be fine in the end. I've realized that no matter what, the darkness that protects it will always be there, whether the land be in Sylvarant or Tethe'alla. I'd feel safer if it were in Tethe'alla, but as long as the perpetual night remains, I'm happy." Hana looked down, as if she was trying to convince herself with her words.

"But the protection from the linking plains…" the man faltered.

"I don't know about that, and I don't know if I want to consider it. We're done talking. If you want someone else to consider your words, try addressing your son." Hana snapped coldly.

"…That's low of you, Hana. He doesn't know…"

"And it was low of you to not tell him earlier, when you two could have formed a basis for a relationship. If you want to discuss, tell him."

Lloyd and Genis had tried to get a closer look at who Hana was speaking to, but apparently, the person had somehow vanished so the pair went in another direction.

"Hey, you boys don't look like you're around here…do you know about the Celsius' Tear?" a man asked them. Genis' interest perked up as he stopped to listen as the man described such an object. The details of the flower seemed interesting and Genis made a mental note to remember it.

"Why do you want this flower so badly?" Lloyd inquired and the man shot him a dirty look.

"Look kid, do you want the money or not?!" he snapped and Lloyd jumped at his sudden mood swing.

"Hey, you bugging my nephew and his friend?" a voice behind Lloyd asked testily. The man looked down at the shorter woman, not intimidated by her glare. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes dared Hana to continue.

Of course, the Cruxis angel was undaunted.

"So you _were_ bugging them." looking at Lloyd and Genis, she wagged one finger before them and used her other hand to smack Lloyd behind the head. "Stupid, there aren't any stupid questions, but there are such things as stupid people. Stop being stupid. This man has his damn reasons for wanting some flower. And he's paying you, so don't complain either." looking back to the man, Hana then poked the taller man in the chest and hissed, "And don't you dare give my nephew a hard time or I'll make sure that damn flower freezes _you_ over." before stalking off.

"O…okay…so she's not in a good mood…" Genis' face was a little blue at the outside cold and Hana's own frigid body and decided he'd go back inside. Lloyd followed and asked,

"Well…do you think it has to do with whomever she was talking to?" Genis looked up at Lloyd and nodded.

"Probably. I mean, she did sound angry after that man mentioned Ronoia." he assumed.

"You know, the way Hana reacts when it's mentioned, I'd have to wonder if what the place was like." Lloyd thought about the place where his ancestors came from. "One day, I'd like to go there. You know, see where Mom and Aunt Hana lived, where Grandpa and Grandma lived…" Lloyd grinned and Genis couldn't help but smile at Lloyd's sincere longings. And feel a little jealous.

Who were _his_ parents anyway? All Genis had known since his birth was Raine. Albeit, she did admit to being very embarrassed when an infant Genis had called her _'Mama'_ because he didn't know any better. It wasn't like it didn't matter, because Genis wanted to know. It was reason enough for that to matter.

"Lloyd, do you think Hana and your mom's parents still live there?" Genis asked innocently, not knowing of the fate of Lloyd's great-grandparents.

"I donno. I've never asked Aunt Hana about it. Never occurred to me to." Lloyd shrugged. He turned to the inn where he spotted Hana closing the door behind her. "I'm going to ask her." Lloyd decided and began to walk ahead. But once he reached the door, it slammed open in his face. Sheena was on the other side, and she looked rather embarrassed at having knocked Lloyd out.

"Uh oh…" she winced and Zelos approached her with a sly look on his face.

"Methinks this is normally something Colette would do." he teased in jest. Zelos then turned back to Hana, who was behind him, and asked, "So why are we headed over to that cave?" and ducked in time to dodge Sheena's angry fist. It made contact with Hana's phased figure and the Shade raised an eyebrow at Sheena.

"Calm down. Your fiery temper could melt all the ice in this city if you're not careful." she chided and walked out, holding on to Neviros' hand as she walked out of Flanoir. The rest followed her, as they traveled across the icy plains to the cave. Zelos seemed to trail behind, as Regal approached him.

"You don't like the snow?" he asked, very well knowing why.

"You should know why I don't." Zelos retorted in a rather off-setting manner. Regal merely gave Zelos an empathetic look before turning away to face the cave's mouth.

"Are we going in there?" Neviros asked, feeling undaunted. The cold blew past her face as small goose bumps prickled on her skin. It wasn't as bad as the human section of the party, but it was cold nonetheless. Hana seemed unaffected, though by the action of rubbing her hands together, it was easy to tell that she was mildly cold as well.

"Of course we are. There's money to be made!" Lloyd grinned and Hana smacked him behind he head.

"There's a summon here, stupid! That's more important than some stupid money!" Lloyd rubbed the back of his head and frowned.

"It's okay Lloyd. You were just concerned about how we'd pay for anything else we might need, right?" Colette smiled encouragingly. Even though Lloyd knew that this wasn't true, Colette's optimism lifted his slightly lowered spirits. The others smiled at Colette's support-no one else felt sadistic enough to bring Lloyd down after that.

"Mart-" Sheena began as she stared at the cave around them, but Hana cut her off with a sharp,

"Don't use that name!"

"Sorry. Wow…" Sheena replaced the name and continued to awe at her surroundings. The icy walls glistened like rainbows as the Exspheres worn by some of the party shimmered off them.

"This place…it's beautiful…" Presea murmured, unsure of how to describe the silent emotion pressing her. She enjoyed it very much, but her confusion at trying to place it was preventing her from doing so wholeheartedly. They continued along their path, cutting past creatures and finding dead ends and the such. But one path led to a small flower sitting on the edge of a platform.

"Is that it?" Lloyd asked, staring at the flower. He wanted to touch it and find out, but was hesitant. Raine went over and inspected it, before nodding her head.

"That would be Celsius' Tear." she confirmed and Lloyd looked to Hana, motioning for her to pick the flower up. Hana glowered at him.

"Do you really think I could pick that up? Whatever. Genis, hand me those gloves." she instructed as Genis tossed her a pair of gloves and the Shade plucked a slightly bloomed bud off the plant.

"Well, let's get to the summon, since we've got the flower." Zelos suggested in a hurried tone. They party turned around and chose another path, yet this one was blocked by a long path of ice-cold water.

"…Do you think the flower could freeze all this?" Presea asked curiously. Hana gently placed the stem in the water as it froze over completely. Grinning, Lloyd stepped over the ice. He clearly hadn't paid attention in class when Raine instructed about friction because once he had a steady foot on the ice, he slipped and fell.

"Stupid." Hana muttered and flew above Lloyd high enough to pick him up and carry him over to a non-slippery area. Regal's face was deadpanned.

"If you could carry Lloyd there, why did we even bother to freeze the water?" He asked in a monotonous tone. At this, Colette followed Hana's actions and picked up Regal in one hand and Genis in the other, carrying them off.

Neviros tried to do this to Zelos, but halfway on the ice, she dropped him as Zelos slid over to Lloyd, his face raw red from the cold.

But back and forth Hana and Colette went, flying each person over the ice and to a safe, friction-friendly area. Beyond that point was an opening, the likes of which seemed rather ominous.

"So…Celsius is probably beyond that point, huh?" Neviros asked with a lopsided grin.

"No worries! We'll do just fine." Sheena exuded a positive grin, causing Zelos to remark with a small hint of jealousy,

"I think you've been spending too much time with Lloyd…" but regardless, followed Sheena inside to make the pact.

The battlefield was too small for everyone to fight on, and to accept the challenge, Hana, Neviros, Lloyd, and Sheena stepped forward. Celsius appeared out of her seal and asked,

"Who wishes to command my power?" then in an undertone, muttered, "Not that anyone other than Mithos could."

"I do!" Sheena declared and snapped back to Celsius' muttering, "And yes we can!" before rushing at her, causing a shocked and now irritated Celsius to conjure up a large wolf. Giving a grin, Neviros morphed into a similar wolf and bared her fangs at it, growls and snarls coming from her throat as she leapt at it. Fenrir knocked her back, but the morphed mutt jumped to her feet and knocked the creature back in response.

Celsius, however, concerned herself with Sheena, the one who so rudely demanded her power. Sending wave after wave of ice, Sheena bounced away, getting hit every so often to cause her movements to become sluggish. A final blast of ice forced her to her feet, as Hana bounded to Sheena and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, don't let your hubris bring you down." she whispered to Sheena, and whispered, "First Aid." so the woman could move on her own then rushing off to lash a whip at Celsius' bare skin. Celsius stared at Hana, prepared to open her mouth but a final stab from Lloyd caused her to fall back to the ground, completely subdued. She glared at the group and muttered to herself,

"I can't believe you guys beat me. But whatever. Make your pact and be done with it."

"So…We're good to go?" Zelos asked once Sheena had finalized the pact and obtained the Sapphire Ring. Sheena nodded, and everyone trekked out of the cave, quite unsure of where to go next.

"We should probably take a break. You know, relax a bit." Colette quipped brightly.

"And I know just the place." Zelos grinned, leaving half of the group confused.

"Oh no, not that gaudy resort…"

_There were two summons down, only a multitude left to go. It wasn't like anyone was worried about that, but the more pressing matter at hand only seemed to affect one person. Why of all places did they have to be going there?_

Purest Shadows: Aack, I'm gonna keep trying to update more often. . Sorry if I don't, but even if it takes a few years, I'm going to finish this fic!


	21. Secrets

Purest Shadows: Yeah, once again, I'm posting a chapter after an infuriatingly long time. SORRY!!! This chapter has a lot to do with the inner turmoil within people, just because I felt like it and I thought Colette needed some spotlight for once.

Chapter Twenty-One: Secrets

_People dawdle, and people learn to get on. Yet in times between, one learns the most about themselves._

Lloyd sat on the dirt beneath the trees, watching the fire intently. His eyes looked a little lost, as he stayed lost in his thoughts. On nights like these, these cloudy nights, Lloyd always felt at…he felt at _home_. Before, he had no idea why, why the clouds were like home to him, when all he could remember were bright skies. And sand, lots of sand.

But now, Lloyd knew why. Moving his eyes from the fire to the woman sitting across it, he noticed that she was staring at the sky, ignoring the fire. She seemed to be so lost in, her eyes half-open, the slight slivers of deep purple reflecting the moon, the only part of the sky partial shown. Her hair, instead of the usual long braid, flowed around her body, waves of violet caressing her body.

Lloyd wondered if Anna looked like Hana…

"It's…so familiar…" Lloyd began, trying to get Hana's attention. He spoke so softly, sure that Hana would never hear her, but she darted her eyes to Lloyd's. Lloyd realized that Hana, like Colette, was an angel. With a slight pang of irony, Lloyd though of the strange hybrid his aunt was. Half demon, half angel. No, he shook his head. Hana wasn't a demon, it was within her, but it wasn't her.

"I know…But…you've never been there…so how can you…" Hana looked a little sad, and Lloyd understood. Ronoia was her birthplace, her home, and he was sure that if she had the choice, Hana would have never left the place.

"I don't know why. But you always say that Mom was a Shade at heart, so…I guess I could be too." Lloyd grinned. Hana smiled sadly and continued to stare at the sky. "Does the sky look like that there?" He asked quietly, knowing that only Hana and Colette would hear him. But Colette was farther off than would be necessary to hear him, as were the others. They all slept, as Lloyd and Hana kept watch.

"No." Hana's answer was a little despondent. "The sky…it's too light to be like Ronoia. Over there, clouds are black during the night and they glow red during the day. It's never cold their either, but then again, to Shades, it takes a lot for us to be cold." She thought about Ronoia's geography in Sylvarant. Between the sea and a desert, within a valley and forest. It made for a rather humid climate. So it was a warm place, considering. "But it is close enough to dream of home, with the wish that one day, I can…" Hana closed her eyes, and stared at the ground. She wanted to go home…

"Aunt Hana…" Lloyd began, wishing that the woman wasn't over ten years older than he, so it wouldn't feel so awkward trying to comfort her.

"No, don't call me that…please don't…" Hana covered her ears. Ever since Lloyd began calling her that, it started to hurt her. No, no relation to Anna…They were never sisters…Anna was a normal human, a normal human so she'd still be alive, not caught between the war of Demons and Angels. The angels try to dominate, try to capture the demons, and the only human between the war was the only innocent casualty. Anna couldn't be related to Hana, so she could still be alive…

But the more Hana told herself this, the sicker she felt. Hana was disgusted at who she had become, always running away. Or who she hadn't turned away from, since she had been running from the beginning. Running from her destiny to leave Ronoia with her mother, running from Luin when her father died, running from her past when Anna died.

"I must truly be suited to be a Cruxis angel." Hana muttered, but Lloyd managed to catch the sentence.

"WHAT?!" He nearly bellowed, if not for the fear of waking others. Colette turned her head in the direction of Lloyd, but saw him gazing at his aunt fiercely so she decided not to butt in. Hana winced at Lloyd's tone as she added, a little more calmly that would be considered normal,

"I run away from everything, and it's something I've noticed amongst my fellow angels. Especially among us five Great Seraphim." Hana finished the statement with a note of bitterness. Kratos ran from the thought of going back to the land, to become attached and then feel the pain of loss. He did this to Hana's sister, he was running from her memory, though she haunted him every second of every day. Yuan, Hana's heart gave way to another deep jolt of pain, he was running from Cruxis' ideals, all for the sake of Martel. Hana wondered if Yuan was truly still in love with Martel, and not her.

Then Mithos…he ran from death, conquering it, but at the cost of life itself. To become a lifeless being, to create angels like himself. Hadn't he marred enough lives, forcing them to walk his path?! Hadn't he realized that the three subjects beneath him had all seen his weakness and trials, and all had walked away? Hana had seen Mithos, during her time in Cruxis, walking the halls in his childish form, in a state much like Colette after giving up her soul. Except in this form, he could speak, and all he could say, tears streaming down his face,

"_Martel, Martel, where are you?"_

It broke Hana to see the child like that, because even though he was doing such horrible things, he was only a lost child, doing what he thought was right because no one else was around to correct him. Yuan and Kratos had lost too much to correct them in the first place, and Hana was nobody to him. Nevertheless, Mithos easily succumbed to Hana when she approached him all those years ago. He allowed the woman to speak in a soft voice,

"_I'm here, now it'll be okay. So go to sleep and you'll see me in the morning."_

Without thinking, Mithos moved in his sleeplike trance and walked to his chambers, where he'd sleep till dawn. He'd be oddly cheerful for the next day, which made Hana wonder what Martel's voice sounded like, if they sounded alike for Mithos to obey her words. Once again, Hana thought of Yuan and Martel. The man clearly had a type…

"You're nothing like them!" Lloyd cried out and Hana looked at Lloyd, her thoughts broken.

"Yes…I am, Lloyd. We run. Can't you see?" She asked with a sad smile, and Lloyd shook his head.

"You're here with us though!"

"Only a provoked event, if Anna had never died, I'd have never left Cruxis…I would have never had the chance to fake my death, to leave." Hana shook her head. "And now I'm even worse off than my own husband, not just a double agent, but with ties to all three sides." She was thinking rationally for once, seeing all the sides because she was depressed. She sounded like Kratos…

"Au-Hana, just because you have ties, it doesn't make you part of them. Who do you want to be with?" Lloyd asked. He was hesitant to ask, what if Hana said she wanted to have no part of Lloyd's group, going with another? Or even worse, just wanting to drop off the face of the earth completely and dying?

"I want…" Hana was torn. Cruxis was out of the question, and going with the Renegades, despite being with her husband, meant being part of Cruxis as a double agent. Only two paths meant straying from Cruxis, and she was already on one. The other…Hana refused to die. "I'm staying with you, Lloyd. I promised Anna, remember?" It was an empty reason, but hopefully, it would suffice.

"Forget that! What do _you_ want?" No one had ever asked Hana what she had wanted before. She felt Lloyd embrace the older woman. She stayed in his arms, feeling the comfort, reminiscent of Anna.

Anna lived, she lived within her only son.

Lloyd felt a little nervous, not knowing what else to do. How could he hold his own aunt like this? Like she was a child needing comfort? But he did anyway, standing still. He felt memories bubbling within him, but memories that weren't his…once again he saw the life of Anna.

His mother's existence within the Exsphere glowed with vibrancy, as Lloyd became witness to them. From Anna's eyes, Lloyd saw himself saying that it'd be okay, that she'd be okay, to ignore the state she was in. That because Anna lived, she would too. She had told her this a year ago, why couldn't she listen?! Then she wrapped her arms around Hana, resting her head on the older woman's through metal bars and Lloyd got a glimpse of long, disheveled, chocolate hair.

And Lloyd realized that Hana was just a child, even with her years surpassing Lloyd's, she was still a child, forced to see things too soon and stunted by it. He had never asked Hana what her childhood was like, but if she had left Ronoia, then became a demon, it couldn't have been very pleasant. The woman was unable to grow mentally, still in the state of a child, with emotions easily provoked.

Lloyd began to curse Yggdrasil and all the things he had done to turn so many people like this. He wanted to hurt Yggdrasil for hurting the people he cherished and loved, he wanted him to bleed, and feel the pain that angels were forever shielded from. His embrace slackened, and Hana moved away from him, clearly embarrassed by it. Child-like as she was forced to remain, Hana was still older than Lloyd.

"Lloyd…thank you." She began and was about to say how she didn't need the comfort, but shook her head. Hana had needed it. The Shade was about to turn away, going back to her watch.

"Aunt Hana, what did Mom look like?" Lloyd burst out, unable to contain his words. He had seen her hair, the color just like his…Hana sighed and looked at Lloyd.

"Do you remember for your eighth birthday, when I gave you that picture of you and Anna?" she asked simply and Lloyd nodded, then a little ashamedly, added,

"I lost it." Hana looked at Lloyd with a slight glower, but forced it away. Lloyd was young, it could have easily happened.

"In terms of how she looked, just try to picture a more feminine version of yourself. Anna and I didn't look alike, to be honest. I looked like Mama, and she looked like Papa." Lloyd's eyebrows fuzzed together in confusion. How could he imagine himself looking like a girl? Sure, he had a ponytail, but it was tiny! And then he'd probably have to be shorter, which made him want to gag. With another gag, Lloyd imagined having breasts…and not having his…Lloyd's hands unconsciously moved between his legs.

Hana laughed and patted Lloyd on the head, a trying feat as she had to raise her hand high above her head.

"Just go to sleep. I'll watch for you." She suggested and Lloyd nodded. After all, he was feeling a little tired, and Hana didn't need sleep.

"Okay. Goodnight." Lloyd complied and walked over to the camping area, where his comrades slept. A little while later, while Lloyd slept, Colette walked over to Hana and sat next to her. Hana didn't make much notice to her presence except that her wings, which originally were pulled out just for the sheer comfort of not having them pulled in, suddenly folded into her back.

Colette noticed this and frowned.

"Hana…why did you do that? Are you…ashamed?" she asked quietly. Hana shook her head.

"Reflex." she smiled a little sheepishly and pulled them back out, sighing at the feeling of restraint leaving her back. Colette mimicked the older woman and her own pink wings fluttered behind her. Hana looked at Colette and smiled a little. "I'm not used to being around other angels anymore."

"It's okay. I'm glad I'm not the only one now. Though, technically, I've never been the only one, have I?" Colette was making reference to Hana, but Hana thought of Kratos instead of herself.

"No, you haven't." Hana gave a little chuckle and added, "It's nice to not be the one singled out." Colette nodded. "So why are you here?" Hana asked curiously. Colette and Hana, despite having spent so much time together, never really spoke to each other for very long or for a one-on-one conversation. Which was what Colette seemed to be coming for.

"Hana…how did you deal with losing your humanity?" Colette inquired and Hana rose an eyebrow at Colette.

"How I dealt with it and how you are, are two very different things. We're not the same people, and definitely not alike, so…I don't know what to tell you. You can't take my path, you don't know the same people I did."

"Anna?"

"Yeah."

Silence filled the air, Colette wondering why she came in the first place. Hana was right, Colette couldn't take Hana's path, and she couldn't anyway.

"You were forced to be an angel too?" Colette finally asked, making Hana bow her head, holding it within the palm of her hand.

"Not in the same circumstances. You were born to become an angel and I was born to become the opposite yet became one as well." Hana stared at Colette for a moment and remembered something from her youth, when she first became an angel. "Colette…did you want to ask anything other than that?"

Colette shook her head, her hands instinctively moving to her abdominal area. In the back of her mind, Hana might have thought that Colette was hiding some sort of pregnancy, after a wild rendezvous with Lloyd, but that was just a combination of wild hope and an overactive imagination. And the attempt to deny what was really wrong with her. Of course, Hana noticed the movement and in mere seconds, had Colette's hands separated from her abdomen, one hand expertly gripping them and the other pressing her abdomen, sure that this was no unborn child Colette was hiding.

"Colette…you have to tell someone…" Hana sighed, after locating a hard spot within Colette's center. It had spread far enough to part of her left inner thigh and Hana knew that the pain must be excruciating for her to sit, or just in general.

"You know…isn't that enough? I don't want to worry anyone." Colette murmured. Hana thought back to when she was in Ronoia, with her body wracked in the pain of mutations as she tried her best to hide it from the person she loved most. Maybe she and Colette were more similar than she thought after all. Colette was most akin to Martel with her mana signature, and after spending years to find the right couple to have Colette be born, Hana would know.

"Colette…" Hana began, searching for the right words, "it doesn't matter if they're worried. It matters if this kills you." her voice was barely above a whisper. "You can't die…too many people rely on you for you to die now." Hana was not one of those people, but she knew that others did.

"Only Sylvarant…and they don't know the truth…" Colette murmured. Suddenly, Colette felt a cold slap across the face. It didn't hurt, as Colette could no longer feel, but the emotional pain at the thought of Hana slapping her brought tears to her face. Hana, despite how little time they had with each other, was like the older sister Colette admired. She wasn't very easy to approach, but she was definitely there when needed. Hana was no longer seated by the fire. She was standing up with a cold fury in her eyes.

"If I ever hear you spout that nonsense again, I'll force so much angelic mana into you, that you'll go back to how you were." Hana hissed. Colette nodded, her eyes widening in fear. Hana had the means to act out her words, and no one would be able to tell it was her fault. "I don't understand how a person could be so blind as to not see who needs them!" Hana paused for a moment, her memories bubbling within her like an overflowing well.

"_Hana, you're so blind! How can you not see that I still need you?! Kratos may be my new protectorate, but you're always going to be my sister!"_

Could this be why Martel died so easily? Dying to protect her brother, but not willing herself to live…just because she couldn't see that others needed her as well?

"Who else would need me? Everyone else knows I'm not a Chosen. I'm a failure." Colette sighed and Hana nearly slapped Colette again. Her raised hand caused Colette to flinch and the older woman struggled to drop her now clenched fist. Hana didn't know what to say. She couldn't lie, she wouldn't! Lying was the way of humans and angels, and Hana was no human. Back to her Shade beginnings, Hana wouldn't lie.

"Lloyd and the others need you." she finally spoke, unsure if that was to work. Colette's eyes brightened a little at the mention of Lloyd, but asked,

"Do you?" Hana laughed a little. She didn't want to hurt Colette by telling the truth, but knew it would come out later anyway.

"I see too much of myself in you. I see too much of Martel in you, though I never knew the woman personally. And because I refuse to rely on Martel, nor do I need another like myself, I can't say I need you that much. But because the people I need to live need you, I need you for them." Colette was a little stung by the brutal honesty in Hana's words. Hana didn't need her, because Hana didn't need someone like herself. "It's hard to see someone with the same weaknesses as yourself, because it makes you hate them so much more. Of course, our circumstances growing up affect how we turn out. You're innocent, and I'm…anything but." Hana saw the sadness in Colette's eyes and felt it was necessary to make her smile next. Colette let out a small laugh, recalling how Hana was gone for that one day with Yuan at the Tethe'alla base.

If only Hana knew what Colette's dreams were, and who they consisted of. If she did, a small voice in her mind quipped, Hana would never let Colette near Lloyd again. Which technically meant that the two were rather similar.

"So tell someone." Hana continued, getting back to the point. She finally released Colette's wrists, letting the angel girl rub them gently to soothe the pain. Colette shook her head.

"I won't. And you know I won't." she whispered and Hana gave out a groan of frustration.

"I know you won't, but it doesn't mean you can't. But I won't tell the others. We angels are bound by a code of secrecy to another. We don't reveal another angels' secret, as it is their right to reveal it themselves. Kratos and Yuan keep my secrets, I keep theirs. As such, I'll be keeping yours too. As much as I don't want to."

Colette smiled, knowing that she could live on without worrying anyone. Other than the other angel next to her, but she could probably deal with it anyway.

"Thank you." Colette smiled and Hana gave a curt nod, her mouth forming a half-smile. Colette could still not identify it, but decided to ignore it as Hana didn't sound too sad, given her next sentence.

"You're not welcome, because if I could, I'd have everyone up and knowing about it."

_With that, Colette returned to the campsite, leaving Hana by herself to remain under the clouds, awake in a pseudo-haven, where she felt more at home than anywhere else._

Purest Shadows: Yeah, what do you think? I was trying to really get into the mental conflict because when I start writing my novel series again, I'm going to have a lot of mental conflict like this, except it's going to stretch deeper and further in the recesses of the characters minds, because I want them practically broken but still sane by the time the series is over. . 


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